Ranma of Spirit World
by Alex Ultra
Summary: Yusuke Yurameshi isn't the Spirit Detective.  No, Spirit World has its eyes on another.  And things are really about to get moving now!  R
1. Prologue

                This is the long-awaited revival of an old fic, which had been lost for a long time.

                The original had been taken down to be re-worked, and then our computer crashed, deleting all my hard work!  .

                DISCLAIMER: I don't own either Ranma 1/2 or Yu Yu Hakusho.

                Other than that, I guess I just have to get on with it, right?

Prologue first, then chapters.

                ~~~*** PROLOGUE ***~~~

                Ranma grunted as he got up off the ground.  Despite that he was fighting very hard, his mind was still wondering, still questioning...

                'Why me?  Why now?  Is this a punishment?'

                The form of his latest enemy was slowly pursuing him.  It looked like a man, except for the fact that he had two moonlight-white horns jutting from the top of his smooth, midnight head.  The rest of him was that same midnight color, including the small, one-meter wings that were totally useless in flight, but did manage to make him look threatening.  His pointed eyes did hold a kind of intelligence in them, but his speech made him sound somewhat childish.  From the moment he had laid eyes on him, Ranma knew that this was a demon, but in all his life, he had never before seen a demon!  Heck, he wasn't sure if he had ever truly even seen a god, as Saffron didn't strike him as really being all that great.

                This... demon, he called himself Shinji, and he called himself that a lot, as he didn't seem to have a full grasp of human language.

                Ranma was searching for a way to take this guy down, but the monkey-suit his father had shoved him into was extremely restricting.  He was almost glad that Shinji had shredded it so, as it afforded him more room to move.

                "Saotome quit fight?" Shinji seemed almost disappointed, but then brightened.  "Shinji guess he just get to killing then!"

                Shinji then pointed one hand at Ukyo, who had been stripped of all her weapons when she first attacked the demon.

                "NO!" Ranma was on Shinji in an instant, already giving him a high-speed licking and proving why he was the greatest (in his mind).  "YA!" With a final kick to the face, Ranma slammed Shinji through the air and into the ground.

                Frowning, Ranma waited for Shinji to get back up.  He had already learned that such attacks had little effect on Shinji, but his muscles were already beginning to complain to him from the exertion.

                Shinji got out of the rubble with a smile, patting the dust off his shoulders.  "Is that all?"

                "I'm just getting started!" Ranma stood defiantly, holding his ground.

                Shinji frowned.  "But human is not hitting hard enough!" A smile formed.  "Maybe if Shinji kill one?  Might make Shinji feel better?" Shinji nodded to himself as if satisfied.  "Yes.  Shinji thinks he will kill today!"

                Nabiki frowned at the newcomer's atrocious grammar, but stayed quiet.  Her pictures might be the last anyone ever sees of Ranma, or the first of the strange demon that was attacking the wedding originally destined to be a wrecking zone.

                Akane clenched her fists defiantly.  If that guy wanted to kill someone, he would have to get past _her_ first!

                Ukyo backed off, still searching for her meter-long spatula, and any of the bombs she had originally brought with her.

                Genma stood in the demon's way, ready to be of help at any instant.

                Even Ryoga, whose style was most similar to Shinji's, was backing off somewhat from the strange aura the demon seemed to be putting off, like bluish flames, rather than the omnipotent wash that was the aura he was used to.

                Shinji had a short encounter with Genma first, and basically swatted him to the side.  Then Ranma ran up to Shinji again, and rammed one fist into the back of his head, but Shinji rolled forward and continued on his way toward the others with a quick glance back to Ranma.

                Ranma gasped when he saw Shinji's choice.  "AKANE!"

                "WHAT?!  Oh... BACK OFF!!" Akane gripped the handle of the mallet she always had with her.

                Ranma went into another volley of punches and kicks, but found that this time Shinji fought back.  After a few seconds of dancing around each other's hits, Ranma was struck off-balance in the side of his stomach, and then got a straight kick square in the face.

                Shinji then grabbed Akane around the back with little effort.  "What do you do now?  Human fighter?"  He had one hand holding Akane's head and the other holding her arms.

                "Let.her.go." Ranma was holding his fists at his side; his anger was beginning to overcome his confidence, and it showed in his aura.

                Shinji smiled teasingly.  "And if Shinji doesn't?"

                Akane answered first.  "I'm gonna make sure you NEVER TOUCH ANYTHING AGAIN!!  NOW LET ME GO!"

                Ranma scowled as he walked toward Shinji.  "Let her go, and I'll fight you.  But our fight has nothing to do with her or anyone else."

                Shinji frowned.  "Shinji decides who is part of fight and who isn't!  And Shinji will kill this girl now!"

                "WHAT?!  LET ME GO YOU PERVERT!!!"

                Ranma ran after Shinji with a loud cry.  "LET HER GO, NOW!!!"

                Smiling, Shinji jumped back just when Ranma's fist landed where he had been, precisely aimed for his head, missing Akane's own head, which was positioned much lower.

                When Ranma looked up at Shinji from his new standing space, he saw Akane go limp as Shinji apparently broke her neck.  Shinji then dropped her to the ground.  "Shinji drop!"

                Ranma immediately went to Akane's side.  But a quick check for a pulse showed that she didn't have one.

                Shinji seemed to be feeling rather good about himself as he stood there, watching Ranma lose hope.  He noted the way Ranma's aura seemed to change color several times, over and over, as he went through the process of realizing that Akane was dead.

                It became purple, green, red, yellow, and an assortment of other colors before finally settling on a blanched goldish color.  Slowly, menacingly, Ranma stood.

                "You wanted a fight.  Fine, I'll give you a fight.  In fact, when you started this fight, you said one of us would die... well, I'm here to make sure that one is you." Turning around, he showed his golden eyes to the demon, who backed up slightly at the vision of this royally pissed-off human.

                "Ah!  Shinji will get real fight now!  Shinji is so happy!" Shinji then hopped slightly into the air before launching himself at Ranma.

                Ranma noted the movement, and began moving himself.  Taking a footing that lent him to falling backward, he watched as Shinji came at him.

                Just when Shinji was upon him, he spun around so that he was thrown to the side, where he lashed out with a powerful straight kick into the side of Shinji's stomach.

                Shinji cringed as he flew through the air, but quickly recovered.  Grabbing his right wrist, he threw forward his palm and launched a beam of great power.  "MAKUJAI!!"(1)

                Ranma saw the ball of energy coming at him, and smirked confidently.

                Just before it hit him, he dodged it and came down on Shinji from the sky.  "HA!" The two of them then went into a set of punches and kicks going at great speeds.

                Ranma quickly got the upper hand out of sheer speed; introducing Shinji to his knee, then hitting him several times on the face and finishing with a roundhouse to the side of the head that sent him flying.

                Shinji got up off of the ground somewhat quickly and looked at Ranma.  Smiling, he pulled one arm back.  "Take this human!"

                "...?"

                "SUPER MAKUJAI!!!"

                Suddenly, a white-hot sphere of power at least three meters in diameter shot forth from him, heading for Ranma with harrowing force.

                Ranma smiled as he pulled his hand back.  When he threw it forward, he launched his own attack.  "Arrogant Tiger Blast revised: CRAZED TIGER'S FURY!!"

                The two attacks clashed, and in a bright explosion, cancelled each other out.

                Before anyone could recover, the two were back into their melee.

                As they fought, one could practically see each of them growing in power.  Ranma seemed to be genuinely growing, and Shinji exposing power he had previously held back.  Ranma was always just a little bit ahead, and when he noticed that the fight seemed to be getting nowhere, he pushed off from his opponent.

                Really ticked off, and growing impatient, Ranma pulled back both hands.

                Seeing this, Shinji pulled back one fist and began to gather all his energy into that fist, which began to glow with a sickly black glow.

                Ranma could feel it, and was fairly sure that everyone else felt it also.  His energy was all there, same as always, but it felt... different somehow.  Like he was tapping into different sources besides his chi.

                But he only barely realized this.  All he knew, was that it was new; and that it would help him to express to that JERK how he felt!

                Putting both hands forward, he called on that new energy.  As he called on it, it seemed to make him more and more tired; but he didn't care.

                Snarling, he called the only thing he could think of as his attack's name.  "VENGEFUL STRIKE!!!"

                Like a cannon going off, the blasting forth of the half-meter wide ball of energy seemed to pull with it the very air.  It's tinted-glass-like surface showed the bright center energy that arced through it like a hundred lightning bolts.  And the lightning seemed to be barely contained by the ball's surface, as great bolts of power seemed to surge up from the ground to touch the sphere, like so many hands longing to touch so much power.

                Shinji smiled as he pulled the last bits of his power into his tightly clenched fist.  Pulling it forward, he shouted in effort.  "YAAAAAHHHH!!!!"

                Ranma's attack and Shinji's fist met with a bright flash that threw lightning everywhere.  After a time, however, it seemed to stabilize somewhat; going to a more stable single light that threw an eerie glow across the already daytime landscape of Ranma's ruined family home.

                Ranma saw this, and pulled his hand back once more.  He was already sweating hard, and he could barely see straight, but he had to make sure that he gave it his _ALL!_

                Pulling it forward again, he opened his palm and offered his previously made attack the very last of his energy.  "HAAA!!!"

                The last tremor of power sent a quiver down Shenji's arm, and the light of the meeting point seemed to follow it as he found that his arm seemed to be penetrating the surface of Ranma's attack.  Or rather, Ranma's attack was swallowing his arm!

                The pain was starting to register in his mind, and he yelled out.  The pain was gut wrenching!  It was like sticking your hand into a fire!  Except a thousand times worse, and without simply destroying your nerves after only a few seconds.

                "Aah-!" No matter how hard he pushed, it simply seemed to make no difference!  Soon, his entire arm was consumed in the bright light!

                "AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!" As the power overtook him completely, a satisfied smile seemed to come over him.  "HAHA!!!  THANK YOU!  HUMAN!  THANK YOU!  FOR NOW, SHENJI IS FREE!!  HAHAHAHA!!!"

                ***K-DOOOOM!!***

                The explosion was so extensively massive that it was heard across the entire district of Juuban (2), and people everywhere turned their head toward that place even as Ranma was thrown violently into the walls of a nearby building.

                Everyone available, or those who could find themselves still able to walk after the explosion, went to check on the fallen.

                The color in Ranma's face was already draining, and his pulse quickly slowed to an erratic final beat, stopping completely.

                Lowering her head, Nabiki placed a cloth over Ranma's face.

                Ranma Saotome had died.  Initial diagnosis: A broken heart.

                ~~~*** End Prologue ***~~~

                Prologue notes:

                (1): I am no good at Japanese names.  I do not know how to translate them, or how to create them.  Normally, I just assume that they _sound_ Japanese.  If they actually turn out to even _have _a meaning, that is, truthfully, totally by chance (and my ear for pronunciation).  So, if someone out there could help me in that department, by either translating for me, or by showing me a place on the web with a utility for such, it would be greatly appreciated.

                (2): Fear not.  Despite the obvious temptation of a multi-crossover, this will have none of the Sailors.  In fact, the only place these people _may_ have even _heard_ of them, is in the cartoon strips.  I.E. Magic will have little (I said _little_, not no) place in this fic.

                Well, let me know what you think.

Alex Ultra: Creator of Eternal Realm

                LATER


	2. Deathly Experience

                Disclaimer: I can't believe they're actually making me do this.  I do not now own Ranma 1/2 OR Yu Yu Hakusho.  Nor will I ever.  And in light of these two facts, I will no longer be placing a disclaimer at the beginning of each chapter.  This is the last, final, and terminal disclaimer.

                O.O  You know what?  Right now, one clock says 9:48, one says 9:38, and the third says 9:28.  Yes, I have three clocks in my room.  X_x

                Also, I would like to say... Wow!  I almost can't believe that someone noticed!  And just for those who didn't, what was noticed was that the Amazons did not attend Ranma's wedding!  Believe it or not, this was on purpose and comes into play later on, but for now, just know that I'm glad someone noticed.  ;P  And as for Akane... well, read on.

                Anyway, now that that's out of the way.

~Recap~

                Last time on Ranma of Spirit World:

                [Annoying, deep voice] In a final act of retribution for the death of his fiancée and future wife Akane, Ranma committed the one act he never thought himself capable of...  After unlocking every ounce of his energy, he unloaded it on the demon Shinji, fulfilling his unspoken wish of death.

                But in the process, Ranma lost all the energies necessary for him to live, and thus, his heart stopped, broken.

                And now, we continue...

                ~~~~~~***   DEATHLY EXPERIENCE   ***~~~~~~

                Annoyed, Ranma was now standing on what seemed to be a stone pathway suspended in mid-air, totally surrounded by blue sky and puffy clouds.  He was now dealing with the banter of a peculiar woman riding an oar, the one who had taken him to this place.  She had blue hair, blue eyes, and a big mouth.

                "Okay, look.  Botan, was it?" Botan nodded silently.  "What the heck are you talking about?  And why the heck is that guy here, but not Akane?" Ranma pointed over his shoulder at Shinji, who had accompanied the two of them.

                Botan cringed, and then tried to smile pleasantly.  "Oh that!  Well, please don't yell at me, but the truth is... she's not dead." Botan hid her face behind a clipboard she was carrying.

                Ranma blinked, and then turned around.  "What!?  ...I thought you killed her?"

                Shinji shook his head no with a large smile on his face.  "No!  Paralyze, sleep, stop heart!  Wake up after five minutes!  Work to make you mad!"

~ On Earth ~

                Nabiki and Ukyo were about to help carry off Akane's lifeless body when she suddenly stretched out and yawned like she was just waking up after a long nap.  "Aauuugghhh... *blink* Hey guys.  What's wrong?  Did Ranma win?"

                The two girls fell to the ground in rather miraculous fashion.

                "What?"

~ Back with Ranma ~

                Ranma's annoyed gaze leveled on the demon standing so near him.  "And I suppose, since you're here, that means you're dead too?" 'At least that worked...'

                Shinji nodded.  "Thank you human!  For now, Shinji can get reward from little blue hat man!"

                "...?  Uh, what's he talking about?"

                Botan sighed.  "Well, I suppose I have to take you to see him anyway, so I may as well take you there." Botan had her clipboard held across her lap as she led the two toward a gigantic palace in the distance.  (A/N: When I say gigantic, I mean it seems gigantic from several miles away.  And that's saying something for up close...  Yu Yu Hakusho veterans will know what I'm talking about. ;P)

~~

                Some time later, Ranma found himself standing in front of a gargantuan door.  As he stared at its gigantic giganticness, all sorts of strange creatures, all of them humanoid, ran around the halls in a huff.  Many of them were carrying any odd number or style of papers, files, boxes, and other odd objects that Ranma wasn't sure he recognized.

                Botan turned around to look Ranma in the eye.  "Now listen to me, Ranma.  You are about to meet the ruler of Spirit World and my boss.  So please, mind your manners, and if you feel that foot-in-mouth thing coming on, just hold your tongue!"

                Ranma smirked.  "With my toes?"

                Botan looked surprised for a moment, then sighed.  "Not funny, Ranma."

                "What?  I tried!"

                Botan turned around and knocked on the door.  From the other side Ranma heard a bit of shuffling, and then someone spoke out.  "Enter."

                The three of them did so, and Ranma finally got to see this great ruler of Spirit World.  It took all his might... all his power... and all his training to keep from breaking out in powerful laughter.

                Shinji immediately went over to the desk, atop which was a pile of papers; beside it there was a bored-looking ogre with a horn coming out of his head, and behind it in a chair that was _way _too big, there was what looked like a toddler with 'Jr.' painted on his forehead.

                Ranma leaned over to Botan.  "Is this the great Ruler of Spirit World?"

                Botan nodded.  "Well, technically no.  This is his son, Koenma.  But they basically hold the same office.  Don't judge him by his looks, he's actually more than one hundred years your senior!" After Shinji was finished talking to Koenma, he got a piece of paper stamped and walked victoriously out of the room.

                After that, Ranma was asked to approach Koenma's desk, and Botan was asked to accompany him.

                "Ranma Saotome, let's see.  Ah, here we are!" Koenma seemed to be putting on an act, as he had actually had Ranma's file in his hand the entire time.  "Let's see.  Very honorable, very strong, and very strong of will.  You realize that the world is not all roses and puppies, and yet are not put down by it.  And besides that, you are strong enough to have killed the god Saffron.  I must say that this alone is impressive enough."

                Ranma's head began to swim.  He never would have guessed that his reputation would follow him to the afterlife!

                "To go beyond that, there seems to be a kind of chaos that follows you.  For some reason, the entire world seems to want to make things hard on you.  Does this ring any bells?" Ranma nodded silently.  "I thought it might.  Well, Ranma...  I'll get right to the chase, just because I don't really like beating around the bush.  I can, right here and right now, give you a trial that would most likely give you your life back.  But in return, I would only ask that you do me a favor."

                Ranma thought for a moment.  "What kind of favor?"

                Koenma seemed to smile, although the pacifier in his mouth masked it fairly well.  "I want you to become Spirit Detective for the Planet Earth!"

                Ranma blinked.  "Um... okay.  Nice title." He then frowned at the toddler-sized ruler, "What's that?"

                Koenma shook his head slowly.  "It's not just a title Yu- er, Ranma." (A/N: That's my fault.  I just thought it would be funny.  ^.^) "You will be fighting demons and acting as the Avatar for Spirit World on Earth, in the Living World."

                Ranma smiled.  "Fighting demons?  If they're anything like Shinji... hey wait a minute!  Why did he need to talk to you anyway!?"

                Koenma sighed.  "Shinji was a special case.  Believe it or not, demons as strong as he is are fairly rare, and yet he was not really proud of it.  For reasons I have yet to fully grasp, he desired to be human."

Ranma smirked as he crossed his arms.  "Maybe he got picked on in demon school... hehe."

Koenma tried his best not to notice Ranma's comment and went on.  "Even now, he is being prepared to be reincarnated in the Living World, much like you.  Except he will be given a human body with a human life span, rather than redeeming his own life." Koenma reached into a drawer in his desk, pulling out a golden egg, which he then put on the table.  "If you accept this task, just take this egg, as it is the trial."

                Ranma looked curiously down at the egg, then back at Koenma.  "One more question.  Are you sure I won't be fighting anyone any stronger than Shinji?"

                Koenma smiled again, making an odd effect through his pacifier.  "As I said, Shinji is a special case, but he is only one of billions of demons that Spirit World deals with, many of which have access, one way or another, to the Living World.  Which is why I was desperate enough to send him in order to bring you here..." Koenma leaned forward.  "To be perfectly honest, Ranma.  I was expecting Shinji to outright kill you.  I never expected you to kill yourself!  Let alone for the both of you to die!"

                Ranma developed a large number of sweatdrops on the back of his head.  'Oh man!  What kind of ruler is he!?'  "Well, that's... nice."

                "Please don't think me morose, Ranma.  I am not cruel, I merely needed a way to get you here."

                Ranma looked to Botan, who only shrugged.  He then rolled his eyes, "Oh alright.  I may as well!  Seeing as how I died for no real reason..." Ranma picked up the golden egg, which immediately pulsed a yellow color.  "Huh?  What was that about?"

                Koenma stood up from his chair and pointed at the ogre.  "Ogre, watch my office and make sure everyone knows where I am.  I'm going to go explain a few things to my new Spirit Detective, making arrangements and such."

                George the ogre gasped.  "But sir!  You already have all this paperwork to go through!  If you leave, it will only pile up more!"

                "Quiet, ogre!  I won't be gone that long, and besides that, I have more important matters to attend to.  Please come with me Ranma, Botan."

                The two of them followed Koenma as he walked out of the room.

                Five minutes later, George found himself accompanied by a young girl with almost glowing blue hair and eyes that seemed to glow with the light of the moon.  She wore a small blue dress of Chinese design, and her hair was done in a double braid.  "Huh?  Where Junior go?"

                George just sighed.  "I'm afraid you're going to have to wait here for a while..."

~~

                As they walked, Koenma explained some of the rules.  "The egg absorbs the energy you put out, both the positive and the negative.  If I were you, I would avoid having negative thoughts and generally being a negative person, if only until you get your life back."

                "Why's that?"

                "Because, if you feed it more negative than positive energy, then it will turn into a monster that will probably bite your head off, consuming your soul and leaving you without an existence.  And beyond that, you will be forever remembered as one who was a monster inside, and was eventually killed by the monster you harbored in your heart."

                Ranma sweatdropped.  The first reason was enough for him, but that second one made him decide to watch his every step that much more closely.

                "But, if you give it enough positive energy, it will become a powerful Spirit Guide that will lead you back to your life.  Indeed, it will then also be able to accompany you in life during your trials as Spirit Detective."

                Ranma looked at the egg in his hand.  "Alright, that sounds simple enough... but tell me.  You made it sound like it was pretty certain that I would succeed.  Just how sure are you that I'll be able to do this right, and not screw it up somehow."

                Koenma thought for a moment.  "Well, considering your track record, I think that you probably won't be too negative unless someone were to jump you.  Normally, we would get someone like you a guard, so that your defeated opponents couldn't get to you, but none of _you're_ opponents ever made it here, which is yet another point for you.  Ah, here we are!" Koenma had gotten out a small ladder and was now holding a pair of blue wrist-cuffs.  He had pulled them from one of the many file-cabinets in the 'Confiscated and Purchased Inventories' room.

                Hopping down, he handed them to Ranma.  "Here, I want you to wear these until further notice."

                Ranma looked them over.  "Okay, but what are they?"

                Koenma turned back to the door.  "Chi restraints."

                Ranma suddenly looked at the cuffs as if they might bite.  "Huh?  What for?"

                Koenma went on. "I am giving them to you so that you might better learn to use your Spirit Energy, and thus not come to depend solely on your chi."

                Ranma put them on, he was never one to depend _solely_ on anything.  "Okay... I guess.  How does it work?"

                Koenma smiled.  "Honestly, so long as you're dead, they won't really be doing anything, as you don't actually have any chi.  Right now, since you are pure Spirit, all you _have_ is Spirit Energy.  However, in life, having _one_ on would limit your chi to within your body, allowing you to hit harder and faster, but not to fire it as you are used to.  Putting them both on would limit that as well.  When you remove them, they allow you full use of your chi once again."

                Ranma flexed his hand.  Koenma was right, he didn't really feel any different.  "Um, okay.  What about this Spirit Energy stuff?"

                When Koenma kept his mouth shut, Botan answered instead.  "Spirit Energy is the term given to something you would probably call 'ki'.  It's basically the spirit's version of chi.  Since they are both usually highly dependent on the body for growth and use, most just say that they're the same thing.  But since you use chi, and we use Spirit Energy, Koenma thought it would be a good idea if you would learn to use it as well.  I suppose, if nothing else, it would give you more abilities..."

                Ranma smiled brightly.  "Great!  I'm always up to learning new techniques!" Ranma then looked at Botan curiously, as if he was a detective looking through a magnifying glass at something interesting.  "Which reminds me!  Why are you still here?  You made it sound like you would be pretty busy?"

                Botan laughed nervously.  "Oh!  Well, I have an idea, but until Koenma tells me, I just do as he says!  Haha!"

                Koenma sighed from his place in the front of the group.  "Yes, Botan, you're going to be his Detective's assistant." Koenma turned his attention to Ranma.  "I can't do it all myself, and I'm usually stuck cramped in that office of mine, so I have Botan or one of the others helping accompany my Spirit Detectives.

                "Now listen to me Ranma, and listen well.  I know that you don't like killing, and I commend you for that.  But as Spirit Detective, there may be times when it will be necessary to do just that.  I don't want you to be unprepared for that, so I'm telling you now."

                Ranma frowned as he looked at the egg.  "Demons?"

                "Yes.  Demons mostly.  Much like Saffron, there will be times when your opponent will give you no other choice." Koenma stopped just in front of the door to his office.  "Trust me, Ranma.  I don't want to have to order you to kill, but if I have to I will.  And besides that, if I didn't think that you would ever face that kind of a situation, then I wouldn't even bring it up." Ranma held his egg just a little tighter as Koenma turned to Botan.  "Oh, and Botan, I trust you will be able to help Ranma while he waits?  I understand there may be a few things that he will need to have taken care of." Botan nodded with a shallow bow as Koenma went into his office, leaving the two of them behind.

                With a sigh and a smile, Botan turned to Ranma.  "Well, let's get going!  We have a lot to do and not a lot of time to do it in!"

                Ranma followed the suddenly bouncy girl down the hall.  "Okay..."

~~ Koenma's office ~~

                "Sir, someone is here for you."

                Koenma looked at the girl.  "Oh, of course.  I wouldn't have expected you to be ready quite so quickly.  Are you ready now to go to Living World?"

                The girl nodded exuberantly.  "I ready!"

                ~~~~~~***   End Chapter 1   ***~~~~~~

                That is the end of that chapter.

                Notes: First, I would like to thank Psycho King for pre-reading this for me and generally being a big help.  Second, just as an interesting note, I looked up the characters of Yu Yu Hakusho, and it seems as if someone misled me!  Yusuke's last name does not have a 'Y' at the beginning (which might just be an American version thing)!  I got that little (useless) tidbit straight from the official home-page (© 2004 Yoshihiro Togashi/Shueisha . FUJI TV . PIERROT. Licensed by FUNimation Productions, Ltd), which just happens to be yuyuhakusho.com ;P.

                I did get a comment saying that Botan should switch to decaf.  Hehe, and I have to agree.  About the only time when she's sullen is when there's either a super-dire situation at hand, or when she's in Koenma's presence.  (Her boss.)  The rest of the time, even when she's serious, she's serious in an over-expressive way!  That's why I like her so much. ^.^

                With that said, I close connection.  Review me, okay?

Alex Ultra: Creator of Eternal Realm

                LATER


	3. Funeral

                Chapter 2 comes now, be ready.

                Someone mentioned that Ranma got a raw deal, and I agree.  Koenma sent someone to kill Ranma to get him to Spirit World just so that he could give him a _test_ to get his life back?  That ain't right!

                Well, the way that Koenma was working was that he simply wanted to meet Saotome, which he couldn't do until he had died.  Next, Koenma knew that Ranma wouldn't turn down a challenge, and so Koenma decided to add a few lessons mixed in to help Ranma out a bit.  Cutting him off from his chi was one of those lessons.  And last, Koenma was rather certain that Ranma had too much positive energy to create a monster from the egg.  But if such a thing did happen, he was (is) ready to jump in at any time to prevent it from hatching.  He's ready to give Ranma his life back the 'other' way if he needs to.  Ranma would simply get the most out of the egg.  There _are_ other things that helped to decide it for him, but for now those things are... _a secret!_

                Hope that clears it up a bit. :P

                "No matter how you slice it, it's still not whole anymore." - Alex Ultra

~~ Recap ~~

                Last time on Ranma of Spirit World:

                After losing his life in a battle in Living World, Ranma was introduced to Koenma, child ruler of Spirit World.  In this introduction, he was given a chance to redeem his life.  In return, he would become something called a 'Spirit Detective', the Avatar for Spirit World Justice in Living World.

                He was also told the difference between chi, the energy he had used in life, and ki, otherwise called Spirit Energy.

                He is now headed back to Living World, where preparations are to be made for his re-animation.

                ~~~~~~***   FUNERAL   ***~~~~~~

                Ranma was sitting on the floor of the dojo, where his funeral was being held.

                Not surprisingly, half of Nerima was in attendance (seemingly).  There was Tatewaki Kuno, who mourned his loss and gave his lifeless body a bokken in remembrance.  Coincidentally, he also began going on about how he was now free to pursue his pig-tailed girl.  Tatewaki's sister Kodachi was there as well.  She seemed to be doing rather well considering her crush of two years was now dead.  She did, however, give him a black rose and promised to meet him in the after-life.

                'Fat chance...'

                After Kodachi was finished Ukyo came.  Strangely she seemed both sad and relieved at the same time.  "Well, Ranma.  I was hoping to actually marry you, but now that you're dead that's impossible.  You know it's strange.  In a way I feel like I should be angry at you for leaving, but somehow I'm not.  I'm sad yes, but... I'm sorry." Ukyo then pulled out a plastic bag with a bit of her best Okonomiyaki in it and placed it on his casket. "I know that not even death would keep you from this stuff, so I hope they let you eat up there 'cause when I see you again I'm gonna make you the biggest Okonomiyaki I've ever made..."  Ukyo left quietly with Konatsu close behind.

                Strangely, after Ukyo was a young man with the pelt of a raccoon on his head.  He had a black stripe across his eyes like a raccoon and was holding a package wrapped in some kind of animal skin.

                When he got beside the casket he looked inside.  "So that's what he looks like.  Hmm...  Well, anyway, I'm sure you're wondering who I am.  Well, I'm sure you'll like to know that Prince Herb regrets not being able to be here.  But he wanted to know that he considered you to be a real man worthy of respect, so he sent me to give you this..." He then went to unwrapping the package.  Once fully undone it revealed a golden bracer with black bands of onyx stone embedded into it.

                "In life this would have shown you to be a guest of the Musk, he had planned to give you this in time to see his son's birth.  But now you can't, so instead it is his promise that you two will meet again, probably in Spirit World.  I'm afraid there was nothing else he had to say." He then closed his eyes and put his middle and index finger of his right hand against his left shoulder, bowed, and started walking away.

                As he walked past the line of people his eyes tracked Ranma's location.  He hid it well, as to anyone else it would have seemed that he was looking at Akane, whom he was sitting directly beside, but Ranma could tell that gaze was directed upon him alone.

                The creepy feeling Ranma had as a result left him when that man left the room.

                From then on it was a series of people ranging from his best friends at school, to several people he couldn't even remember the name to.  Even Gosunkugi came to put a hex on his soul that was supposed to make him rest in peace.  Fortunately, like everything else Gosunkugi tried to do, it didn't work.

                Something Ranma noticed, though, was a peculiar absence of any of the Amazons.  "Hey Botan, where are Cologne an' Shampoo?  Out of all these people I woulda figured them to come first?"

                Botan smiled and laughed as she waved the question off.  "Oh!  Well, I'm sure they're around here somewhere!  Ha, ha, haaa..."

                Before Ranma even had the chance to realize that the two in question had even arrived he heard a very tell-tale voice shout out his name.  "RANMA!!!" *Crash*

                Shampoo looked about, confused for a moment.  One second she had been trying to glomp onto Ranma, and the next she was on the floor!  "Oh!  There you are Ranma!" Turning around, Ranma saw Shampoo holding her face less than an inch from his own.

                "GAH!!" Ranma fell backward and then through the floor, shocked and surprised by having Shampoo so close.  He pulled his head back out of the floor and blinked at Shampoo.  "Shampoo!  I was wondering where... Hey wait!  You can see me!?"

                Shampoo smiled as she crawled closer to Ranma's head. "Silly Ranma!  Of course!"

                "Of course what, Shampoo?" It was a good thing that only the Tendo's and Saotome's were still about, or the whole scene in the dojo would have been even _more_ chaotic.  As it was, only those two families really had the chance to be confused.

                *Clonk* "Shampoo!  What did I tell you!?" Cologne then turned to Genma and Nodoka, who were still sitting on the floor while Shampoo nursed the bruise on the top of her head. "I apologize for Shampoo's lack of manners.  She is not used to dealing with ghosts and spirits." Cologne gave Shampoo a quick glare before turning to Ranma.  "I look forward to hitting you over the head again, Ranma." Cologne smiled wryly and swung her staff around.  "EH-hehohoho!"

                Genma scowled.  "You too seem to be acting quite disrespectfully, Cologne!"

                Cologne was ready to whack Genma across the head as well, but decided against it.  "Well, he won't be getting anything from the Amazons until he gets back from Spirit World!"

                Nodoka grabbed onto Cologne.  "Are you telling me Ranma's coming back!?"

                Cologne nodded while backing away from the teary-eyed woman. "Er... yes..."

                Nodoka let go of Cologne and started singing to the heavens.  "OH!  I knew it!  NOTHING can keep my manly man down!  _Not even death is enough to keep my Ranma down!!!"_

                It was now Cologne's turn to have a massive sweatdrop as Shampoo fussed with being unable to wrap Ranma in a massive glomp.

                Akane frowned rather darkly.  "Now wait a minute!  What makes you think that we're going to believe you two!?  You two have a way with misleading people, especially where Ranma is concerned!"

                Nabiki shook her head.  "Yes.  But I don't see how this would help them get Ranma married to Shampoo unless it's true.  And so far that seems to have been their only motivation."

                Cologne froze for a moment as she stared blankly at the middle Tendo girl.  "Yes, you're right!  Not bad!"

                Ranma, who was still trying to avoid Shampoo, was rather confused and seeking out Botan.  "Botan?  Hey!  Where'd you go?"

                "I'm right here!"

                Shampoo frowned.  "Who is funny girl on stick?"

                Cologne sighed as she bopped Shampoo on the head yet again.  "Mind your manners Shampoo.  And Botan, it's good to see you again."

                Botan bowed slightly.  "Elder Cologne, you're in good health!"

                "Hah!  Of course!"

                *Blink*

                Botan looked around.  "Um... Elder Cologne?  I think you're being stared at..."

                "Who's Botan?" Soun had a calm air about him, though it seemed (by experience) ready to crash down and leave him soaking the floor with his tears.

                Cologne cleared her throat with a quick cough.  "Yes, well.  Anyway.  We are here to make sure that Ranma has a body to come back to upon his return."

                Kasumi 'hmm'd in thought, "Oh my.  I suppose I should keep a place for him at the table..."

                Those still in the dojo watched Kasumi walk out as if it was the most obvious thing to do.

                Looking first at each other, then at the door, Nabiki, Soun, Genma, and Nodoka shrugged and followed.

                Akane stayed behind, along with the two Amazons.  She then looked grumpily to Cologne.  "Is he really coming back?"

                Cologne gestured toward Ranma's casket.  "Look for yourself!"

                Akane, curious now, crept over to the casket for a quick look inside.

                A look at his face showed that there was a slight coloring to his skin.  Reaching down, she discovered that he also had a faint pulse, and that he was breathing ever so slightly.  "So why can't he just wake up now?"

                Cologne sighed.  "Because he has no chi.  Without any life-energy, his soul can't re-enter his body."

                "Oh..."

                After a few minutes of silence, Shampoo turned to Cologne.  "Shampoo stay here and watch Ranma?"

                Akane frowned immediately.  "Hey!  What happened to 'Airen' and 'Son-in-law'?  Why are you using his name all of a sudden!?"

                Cologne sighed.  "Well that's... complicated."

                "Ranma dead, no longer is Airen."

                *Blink* "Well... that makes sense..."

                Cologne picked herself up off the floor in time to have Akane confront her again.  "Then why did you say it's complicated!?  That didn't sound too complicated to me!"

                Cologne sighed and looked to Botan, who only shrugged.  "Might as well, she'll find out anyway."

~~

                Cologne started a story and it went a bit like this...

                Long ago, the Amazon and the Musk were actually quite cooperative tribes.  Both of them had been made, through influences from Spirit World, to protect and defend two Earth-side artifacts.  One was a gate, which the Amazons protected.  The other was the key to that gate, which the Musk held in their vault.  In order to better protect them both tribes were taught in ways to strongly enhance Spirit Awareness, and would get infrequent updates on the happenings of Spirit and Demon Worlds.

                The two tribes, however, disagreed on how best to protect these artifacts.  The Amazons thought that controlling _who_ protected them was the best way, while the Musk turned to the natural world from which they drew strength.

                Both tribes drew up contracts with Spirit World's ruler, King Yemma, specifying their participation and any other rules they would have to follow.  Few are sure what all is in these contracts, but most are sure that Spirit World did provide for both tribes in one way or another so that they may better defend their artifacts.

                The final clause in both contracts is also the most prevalent.  The Spirit World's chosen Avatar for Earth is to be considered a protected person and is therefore an honorary member of both tribes.

                In light of this and to better defend their artifacts, both sides began to pursue greater power and techniques.  Both tribes hoped to have a Spirit Detective named from their own ranks, in hopes of being able to influence both tribes simultaneously.

~~

                "Among the Amazons it is the winner of the tournament who most seeks that title.  I do not know exactly how the Musk determine such things, but in light of what Ranma relayed of Herb I believe it is likely they consider the royal line to be their best hope.  So far, only one has been chosen from either tribe, and she coincidentally did not fulfill those hopes.  Being a Musk daughter, she did not have the kind of influence among the Musk that a man would have, and beyond that she saw no reason to try to change things among the Amazons."

                Ranma, having been curious as to this explanation, blinked in a mix of comprehension and confusion.  He then turned to Botan.  "Hey, is any of that stuff true?"

                "Well, I could look it up in Spirit World records to be true, but I'm pretty sure that's how it went.  Not that I was there myself of course!  Haha!"

                Akane, oblivious to the conversation going on just above her head, looked down at Ranma's face.  "Well, then I suppose I should take him inside..."

                Akane then picked up the casket and carried it inside, giving Shampoo the snake-eye on the way.  Before leaving the small building she turned to Cologne.  "By the way, some guy with an animal on his head came in here tonight.  While he was leaving he was looking my way, but not at me.  And I'm guessing that he was really looking at Ranma, which is the only reason I'm even taking this into consideration..." She then left the room to go to the house.

~~

                Ryoga was still trumping through a forest somewhere in Tibet when a car suddenly rammed into his side.

                When he noticed the car wrapped around him he looked through the window.  'Oh good, he was wearing his seatbelt...  Since when were there cars in the forest?' Looking around, he saw a city he didn't recognize.  "...  WHERE THE HELL AM I NOW!!!" 'DAMN YOU SAOTOME!  HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO YELL AT YOU FOR DYING BEFORE I COULD KILL YOU IF I DON'T EVEN KNOW WHERE I AM!?!?'

~~

                Back in Japan's skies Ranma's ghost sneezed.  "Hmm, I wonder who's talking about me?"

                Botan put her hands behind her head and gazed at Ranma with a teasing expression.  "At the rate you're going half of Tokyo..."

                "Oh right!  ... okay."

                Down in the Tendo household Akane's eyes drooped dangerously low as she muttered one more word.  "Ranma..." 'If she's lying, I'll make sure she regrets it!  And you had better be really coming back...'

~~ That night, Cat Café (Nekohanten) ~~

                Cologne had just bopped Mousse the third time that night when a letter came through her window.

                'Hmm?  What's this?'

                "[Elder Khu Lon,

                "[We recently got word that an event is about to occur that requires your presence in the village.  If at all possible we need you to come back as soon as possible.  Your Great-Granddaughter, Grandson, and Mu Tsu's presence are not needed.

                "[Elder Sah Firh.]"

                "..." 'Interesting... I wonder what it could be?'

                Cologne then pulled out a pad of paper and a pen to start writing a note to the others of the Cat Café.

                ~~~~~~***   End Chapter 2   ***~~~~~~

                Gawd... that was a heavy one!

                Next chapter hopefully won't take as long as this one did.  And it will hopefully be the full eight pages that is my norm!  ^.^  (This was only six... -_-;)

Alex Ultra: Creator of Eternal Realm

                LATER


	4. Spirit Guide

                Originally, there was a chapter between chapter 2 and this, but since I already had part of this one written, I'm just gonna use it now.  Okay?

                Okay.

                Before we get into it, however, I would like to try to explain my absence.  In recent weeks I have found myself with loads more free time.  While this might seem like a good thing for more writing time, I had also rediscovered a favorite game of mine called Diablo 2: Lord of Destruction (Expansion Set).  Something about this game is that it is a highly addictive game that thousands (millions at its peak) of people would spend hundreds of dollars a year to get the best items on and whittle away all of their spare time playing.  I, being incredibly poor and stubborn to boot, long ago made a vow to play legitimately.  This means that I end up spending twice as much time and only getting half as far.  Basically what I'm saying here is... Get Diablo 2 if you like good games and have the time to waste, don't get it if you don't.  .  BLIZZARD ROCKS!!  Oh, and sometime in the last week I went in and got all four of my Wisdom Teeth removed, leaving me with soreness in the back and sides of my mouth and out on a limb as far as paying attention to anything.  (Oohhh, look at the pretty stars!  Hehe...)

                Now, let's go forward, rather than dwelling on the past.

                ======   SPIRIT GUIDE   ======

                Since the day that Ranma had died, Akane did little more than watch over his almost eerily lifeless body and wonder what was taking him so long.  All that Cologne would say about it was that good energy gathered more slowly than bad.

                Too bad Akane didn't know what the heck she was talking about.

                Most of the time Akane kept Ranma's body from harm, she also had hot water handy for all the times when his body would revert to female form.

                Meanwhile, Ranma was very annoyed to find that his spirit would also change form whenever his body did.

                "So if I had died as a girl!?"

                "You would have been stuck as a girl in death..."

                To say that Ranma got the shivers from that would have been an understatement.

                Koenma popped in from time to time to give Ranma an estimate on just how far along his egg was.  As of two and one-half weeks, he was officially at eighty-three point seven percent (roughly).

                So Ranma continued to wait.  Although, he did feel that he was getting a bit antsy.

==

                Ranma was turning the golden egg over and over in his hand.  "So... what do you think it'll look like?"

                "I don't know Ranma... I guess only time can tell."

                Ranma smiled teasingly.  "So I guess I just have to find this guy 'Time' then?"

                Botan scoffed.  "Ranma!  No one interrupts him!  He's time!  No one can interrupt time!"

                Ranma looked inquisitively at Botan, trying to figure out if she was serious or not.  Smiling, he laughed a couple of times, and Botan joined in, which only proved what he was thinking.  "Y'know Botan, when you do that I can't tell if you're being serious or not!"

                "Heh-eh, yeah.  Sorry, I couldn't resist!"

                "Yea-hah, neither could I." Ranma tried to calm his laughter down.  After he had a good hold on his laughing, he looked down, shifting the egg in his hand.

                The golden glow just at the edge of the golden shell went unnoticed.  As there was just too much gold there to look at anyway.

==

                "Akane, you have to go back to school _some_time."

                "Yeah but, what if Ranma wakes up and I'm not there?"

                "Akane, I'll be sure to tell you the moment that he wakes up.  Calm down and go to school."

                Akane nodded, Kasumi was right.  She couldn't just sit there forever.  Tomorrow, she was going back to school.

==

                Akane sat in class as Ranma watched her try to keep up.

                She was writing in her notebook but for some reason she kept on switching from legible writing to scrawling down scribbles.

                "Akane, what are you thinking?" Ranma watched over her shoulder as he also just happened to be listening in on the lecture.  'I can't believe it, I'm dead but I'm _still_ in school!'

                "I wonder if she's thinking about that Kuno boy?  She didn't seem too happy to see him, despite what he thought."

                Ranma nodded.  "Maybe... I would sure know how she feels..."

                "Akane Tendo?  Can we talk after class?" Miss Hinako was just dismissing class and was looking toward Akane with an inquisitive look.

                "Oh.  Yes Sensei." Akane fussed with the various objects in front of her before she stood to see what it was that the teacher wanted.

                "Yes, sensei?"

                As she looked at Akane, Miss Hinako sighed. "Miss Tendo.  I know that... there's been a death.  It's been hard on all of us.  But being gone from class has put you way back."

                "Hmm?  How far back?"

                "Well... It's a lot really.  You managed to miss several really important lessons in this class alone.  But Principal Kuno has decided to let you make it up somehow..."

                "How's that?" Akane was curious and slightly unnerved at the same time.

                Ranma was floating nearby, just as curious.  "I wonder what this is all about?"

                "He says that if you can get an 80% or above on a accumulative assessment, then he'll mark you down as excused for those days you missed.  If not, well." She pulled out a pile of paper at least a hundred sheets thick and dumped it on her desk.  "This is the homework you missed, and it would need to be done and turned in by the Monday after the test on Thursday."

                "WHAT!?  Look at that!  I've never seen that much homework in... what?  A coupla weeks?  Wow, it's really been that long?"

                "Well, she did say they were important subjects...  And are you sure that little girl is really a teacher?"

                Ranma crossed his arms.  "Yes, she's a teacher.  Just don't get her angry."

                As Akane took the pile of papers and thanked the little teacher, Ranma followed her back to the Tendo's.

                After checking on Ranma, she made her way up to her room and sat down to look at her homework.  "Okay, I've got three days.  I better make them count."

                Through that time, Ranma watched her study, and helped her continue to do so while she slept.

== Akane's Dream ==

                "Hemisphere, Ranma, not Hemoglobin!" Akane began scribbling her notes down as Ranma sat there puzzled.

                "Um, okay.  Then where is Hemoglobin?"

                "Hemoglobin is in blood.  It carries oxygen.  It _doesn't_ cut the world in half!" As she continued to scribble her notes down, she began mumbling.  "Stupid boy..."

                "Okay!  Well then, how dense is a black hole?"

                "Too dense to measure."

                "Uh, and how bad is your cooking?"

                "Too bad to measure."

                'Hah!  She's learning already!  At least she's honest in her dreams!' Ranma felt proud that he had gotten a confession out of Akane, even if it _was_ in her dreams.  "Um, okay.  So what year did World War II finally end for Japan?"

                "Uh... 1945?"

                "Yeah!  And what about Germany?"

                As Ranma continued to help Akane study, the golden egg in his pocket continued to glow warmly.

==

                The next day Akane woke up feeling only a bit refreshed.  Her face hurt too, which made sense considering she fell asleep on her pencil.

                It was Wednesday so she still had one more day to make up her work, which was good.  But she still had to attend all her classes, which was bad.

                Fortunately, Ranma was free to roam.  What's the point of being a ghost if you just sit and listen to class lectures?

                Not that there was really much to look at.  He discovered where Nabiki kept her pictures at the school.  He uncovered where Gosunkugi was keeping his constant supply voodoo items.  He helped a sleeping teacher to alert the girls in the girl's locker room to the presence of one rather tiny pervert.  No biggie.

                "Sigh Man, I'm bored..."

                "Ranma you've been saying that almost non-stop since you died!  What do you want?  People to be constantly fighting you?  Or fighting _over_ you?"

                Ranma chuckled. "Yeah, I guess I did have it made, didn't I?"  Botan only stared at him for a moment before he noticed.  "WHAT!?"

                Botan's mouth quirked for a moment, and then again, until she finally let go and started laughing whole-heartedly.

                Ranma would have found it funny too, if he hadn't been serious.  "Was it something I said?" For some reason he had a sudden urge to yell at his foot, but squashed it as a silly notion.  (A/N: Snickers at bad humor.)

                That night was yet another night of helping Akane with her studying/homework.

== China, Village of the Amazons ==

                Cologne looked across the village square at the young girl who had so recently joined their ranks.

                Tsukiko was her name, and it fit her well.  Her glowing blue hair (not really glowing... at least not all the time) seemed to perfectly frame her cream-ish eyes, which glowed brightly during the full moon, but were a bit darker during the new.  In physical age she was only about five years old, but in real age she was at least forty!  Being an Osahktva, she had been given a grown body upon reincarnation, though all of the power of her previous life needed to be 'reworked' before it could be usable.

                Tsukiko, aside from that, was a marvelous learner, and had a body that seemed more resilient than any other at that age.

                Of course, Cologne couldn't see to the child's training personally just yet, she had other things to attend to...

==

                Ninety-nine percent!

                Ninety-nine percent!!

                Ranma couldn't believe it!!

                Akane got a ninety-nine percent!!! (Readers face-fault.)

                'Huh, I guess those sleep-time study sessions paid off...'

                Ranma was on his own for the moment, Botan having gone off to Spirit World to drop off a new arrival.  Apparently, some guy choked on a chicken bone in Juuban...  So for the moment, he was alone.

                He hadn't expected that.  The amazons were apparently holed up in their restaurant and no one else could even see him, so he was really on his own.

                Bored, he started idly floating through the streets of Nerima while idly staring at the sky and idly tap-tapping his foot to an idle tune he didn't really remember hearing.

                'Man, I'm bored...  I can't even train because I don't have a body... or I'm not in it...' "At least I'm not talking to myself..." Ranma was so bored that he totally missed the fact that he was doing just that.

                **Tong!!**

"... DAMMIT RANMA!!!"

                The sound of a lamp-post being rammed into and someone yelling Ranma's name caused him to do a double-take and look around him toward the source.

                Sure enough, there was Ryoga standing beside a badly bent lamp-post.  He was grumping rather distastefully, but that wasn't what had caught Ranma's attention.

                "HEY!  YOU GET AWAY FROM HIM!!!" Ranma shot off and slammed what served as his fist into what served as the main body for some kind of half-there demon that was floating around near Ryoga.  In that moment when Ranma's Psudo-fist rammed into the demon's side, it was immediately blown to gooey bits, which quickly evaporated into nothing.  Ranma didn't know what that... THING was doing there, but he was fairly certain that he didn't have Ryoga's permission.  And for that matter, neither did any of the other demons that were hanging around him.

                As the many demons of assorted colors looked at this ghost that dared to trifle with them, Ryoga simply looked around, confused.

                Ranma went on the attack!  He downed two of them before he realized that his spirit didn't have quite the endurance that his body did.  Having only exercised his chi, his ki was WAY lower.  'Crud...'

                The many demons, as they _did_ outnumber him by about thirty-four to one, ganged up on him when he slowed down a bit.

                'DODGE!!  Duck, kick, punch, did I get him?  ACK!!  AUGH!!!' "Aaaaughhh!!!" Ranma was sent careening through a wall when one of them managed to get a head butt on him.  It seemed that the more confused Ryoga got, the stronger the demons became!  'They're feeding off of him!' "RYOGA!!" Ranma jumped back into the brawl...

                "SAOTOME!!!" Ryoga, having sworn he felt Ranma's energy signature off somewhere to his left, immediately mistakenly took a gargantuan leap to his right; ready for a fight at any time.

                The demons, having found that their meal had left, followed after him.

                Ranma, in a way, was glad that they had gone.  'Ryoga's tough, he'll last a while...'

                "Ranma?  You look like you just ran a mile!  What happened!?"

                Ranma turned around to face Botan and wiped some of the spirit-sweat from his spirit-forehead.  "Haha, like a mile could make me feel like this!  I could keep running for weeks without tiring!  ...If it weren't for that sleeping and eating stuff..." Ranma tapped his index fingers together, admitting to the over-reach he had just committed.

                Botan frowned.  "Well none the less, look at you!  You're a wreck!  What the heck happened!?  I wasn't gone _that_ long!"

                Ranma would have made a comment about that, but instead "You sure about that?" ... made a question about it.  (A/N: Big sigh)  "Anyway, that's not really important right now!  Botan, you gotta tell me something!"

                Botan shifted her face into that 'interested' look she uses to show that she's listening.

                Ranma then went into extra-fast 'explain mode'. "Okay.  I just saw one of those rivals of mine running through here and he was surrounded by these weird flying bug-things!  They were _huge_, for bugs anyway, but Ryoga couldn't see them!  And then, while I was fighting them Ryoga was getting confused, well, more confused.  And as always when pig-boy gets confused he gets mad, usually at me.  Anyway, the madder he got, the stronger they got!  And then he yelled at me and jumped off and they followed him!  _WHAT THE HECK WERE THOSE THINGS!?!?_  Each one felt as hard as a rock!"

                Oddly enough, that one-sided conversation didn't feel quite so odd to Botan, as Ranma had turned female just before the outburst and Botan was used to being around talkative girls.  Heck, she _worked_ with a few of them!  "Um, okay... this friend of yours, Ryoga, he's the depressed and angry one, right?" Ranma nodded, her red locks swaying slightly.  "Well then they were probably spawned around him.  There are some demons that are literally created in areas of intense depression.  And with how intensely depressed that friend of yours is supposed to be, I read his file, then it wouldn't surprise me if there are a few of them hanging around him."

                "So, what?  I still say they seemed kinda hard to beat considering I splatted the first one without really trying..."

                Botan smiled nervously, "'Splatted' it?  Um, Ranma, you _do_ realize that you're still a ghost, right?" Ranma nodded again, "Without your body energy to back you up, you're going to tire out rather quickly so long as you're all spirit.  Your power may be right up there with a good-level demon, but you just won't last as long as you're used to.  And beside that, the most I can tell you about them is that they won't actually hurt him.  In fact, some people manage to feed _their_ demons enough to give them physical form.  But the problem with them feeding off of the person's negative emotion is that they're like a rechargeable battery.  They feed for a long time, but then they make it harder for the person to _stop_ feeling that emotion.  Berserkers take longer to calm down, and that friend of yours may never stop being depressed.  Although..."

                "Although?" Ranma really didn't like being strung along.

                "Well, like I said, they're like batteries.  But they're also like living balloons, if you 'splat' them, they release all that energy they stored.  The problem with that is if you did that it would likely throw your friend into a more intense state of that emotion that that demon stored.  Popping them all at once could just make the problem worse..."

                "Soo... I hafta pop 'em one at a time?  Sounds like a plan!" Ranma then sped off in the direction Ryoga had gone.

                "AH!  WHERE ARE YOU GOING!?"

                Ranma turned around to see Botan quickly catching up to him.  "I'm going to pop Ryoga's balloons!"

                Botan managed to catch onto Ranma's pig-tail and pulled hard enough to stop him.  "You can't do that NOW!  Wait until you've got your body back!" (A/N: BTW, Ranma was reverted back to male sometime during the conversation.) Ranma stopped his pursuit of Ryoga.  "And besides that, too much exposure to _that_ kind of energy could taint your spirit egg!"

                Ranma blinked.  "That could happen?"

                Botan sighed, "Yes.  It's attuned to your own energy specifically, but if exposed to such intense energy as that it could accidentally take some of that..." Botan then took a big sigh and looked into Ranma's eyes.  "And it would be a real shame for you to get so close only to have to destroy the egg."

                Ranma was about to nod in agreement when the voice of Koenma came to the two of them.  "That's right, Ranma.  Fortunately, that boy left too soon for it to affect your egg; which, by the way, is ready to hatch sometime in the next hour.  I suggest you stick close to your body, or it could be quite a ride for you when it finally does hatch."

                Ranma looked at his egg.  "An hour huh?  Okay, thanks for the tip!" Ranma waved the giant toddler head good-bye as he grabbed onto Botan's oar.  "Let's go Botan!"

                "Well okay..." It wasn't that Botan was unsure, she had simply never seen this kind of re-animation before, and was kind of excited to see it.

==

                Ranma was now floating just above the Tendo household, as that had been deemed 'close enough'.

                Looking intently at the egg, Ranma concentrated for a while.  After a few minutes of sweat, Ranma turned to Botan.  "How will I know if it's hatching?"

                "Um, I guess... it'll look like that."

                Ranma noted the way Botan was pointing at him, and then turned to the egg.  The golden glow, which seemed almost as if an extension of its shell, had suddenly expanded to fill, and even envelop Ranma's hand.  "Cool!"

                As he sat (floated) there, the egg lifted itself out of his hand, moving about a meter higher into the air.  As it did, the golden aura about it seemed to create a kind of electrical field, with sparks of golden energy moving between the egg itself and an outer shell of golden energy.

                As the sounds of the hatching grew louder, Botan yelled out to Ranma.  "Ranma!  Listen!  The moment it hatches, you will be pulled back into your body!  Your Spirit Guide can only be alive so long as you are!  And since it's about to be alive, you will too!  That's the way it works!  But it may be too fast for you to-AH!"

                With one last pulse Ranma and Botan could feel the raw power of goodness pushing them back, Ranma's goodness.  And in that instant Ranma caught a small glimpse of some kind of small tailed animal in the center of the energy storm.

                It was small, and black.  "Huh?" Ranma could feel a pull that started at his fingertips, he didn't even have a chance to make any more sounds before he was seemingly sucked down into the house, flailing and struggling in a kind of last-moment fear.

                With Ranma gone, back to the world of the Living, Botan cradled the furry little bundle in her arms.  "Oh how cute!"

==

                Kasumi was in the kitchen chopping some of the extra carrots(1) when she heard Ranma's voice.  "GAH!  WAIT WHAt does... he?" There was then the distinct sound of someone falling loosely on their face.

                "Oh my!  I'll bet Ranma's going to be awfully hungry, and thirsty too!" She then started preparing some tea and thin soup, perfect for someone who hadn't had a thing in their stomach for nearly three weeks.

== (I could be evil... nah.)

                Over a period of about an hour Ranma slowly ate what Kasumi fed him.  "Ugh... I can barely move.  I feel half-dead..."

                "Well Ranma, you were asleep so long we had to have Dr. Tofu hook you up to an IV just to keep you alive.  If he hadn't you probably would have died of dehydration, or starvation, or both.  Now save your energy, you'll need it when Akane gets back."

                "Where is she?"

                "Out celebrating with her friends, I think.  She should be home sometime in the next hour though, and I'm sure she'll be happy to see you."

                Knock knock

                "Oh my!  I wonder who that could be?"

                Ranma laid on the floor listening to what he could hear from the front door.  "Oh my!  Are you here for Ranma?"

                "Why... yes?  He's here, right?  Or is he sleeping?"

                "Well, he just woke up some time ago.  If you aren't going to start a fight with him, I suppose you can talk with him."

                "Oh don't worry about that.  He might not like some of what I have to say though..." The new person, who was apparently a girl, sighed as she walked into the house.

                Ranma prepared to meet whoever it was that was coming into the house, sitting up the best he could muster.

                "Oh!  Good to see you're up Ranma!"

                Ranma would have fallen on his face if he had had the energy.  "Botan?  What are you doing here?  And how come Kasumi can see you?"

                "Oh, well.  I'm here to introduce you to someone.  And as for, ah, Kasumi.  Some time ago I managed to convince Koenma that I would be a much better help to the Spirit Detective if I had a human body.  So, here I am!"

                Ranma looked her over with half-closed eyes.  "So you're just going to wear that pink kimono everywhere?"

                Botan scoffed indignantly.  "Ranma!  I happen to like it!"

                "..."

                "And besides, I haven't had much time to build my wardrobe yet..."

                "... um, okay.  So what did you come here to tell me?"

                Botan immediately began to sweat and put her arms up defensively.  "Okay now, Ranma!  Don't freak out, okay?  Just calm down!"

                Botan's attempts to calm Ranma down had the opposite effect on him, as it served to get his nerves worked up.  "Botan?  What's wrong?"

                Botan was sweating bullets right about then, 'Man!  I really don't want to do this right now!'  For a moment, the old habit of 'Meowing' nearly took hold, but she figured that wouldn't have been a good thing considering the company.  "Uh... please.  Just try to stay calm, okay?" Botan opened the door behind her just a little bit wider, signaling to someone just outside it to come in.

                Ranma immediately pushed himself into a corner as a small black cat with odd markings strolled into the room.  "C-Cat!!"

                "Ranma!  Just calm down!  This is your Spirit Guide!"

                Ranma pointed one shaky finger at the furry feline.  "A c-cat?"

                "Hey now!  It's not nice to point!"

                It was then that Ranma's previous exhaustion caught up to him again, as he fainted dead away.

                Kasumi, who had come in the cat, looked at it oddly.  'Did that cat just talk?'

                ======   Ending it Here   ======

                Well, that was a bit longer than the previous chapters, right?

                (1) Just a private joke.  Hehe, wouldn't expect anyone who hadn't read 'Kasumi's Present' on the Anime Addventure to understand that one.  (Will add http on profile page.)

                Anyway, I hope you like what I've done so far.  (It doesn't exactly seem spectacular to me, but then I am usually my own greatest critic, ne?)

                Don't know when the next chapter will be out.  I just might be working on 'Great Monkey, Wild Horse' some, which I think I will end up moving to the Ranma 1/2 section...

                Anyway...

Alex Ultra: Creator of Eternal Realm

                LATER


	5. No Rest For Ranma

                 Here's the next chapter.  Hope you like it.

                ======   NO REST FOR RANMA   ======

                Ranma slowly opened his eyes, not at all feeling up to sparring yet.  "Ugh, what hit me?"

                "Oh good!  You're awake.  You know, you took that a lot better than I thought you would!"

                "Hnn?" Ranma looked up to see the familiar face of Botan looking down at him.  Groaning, he grabbed his forehead.  'Great.  That means it wasn't a dream!'

                "Hello mother.  Or, should I call you father?"

                Ranma looked, puzzled, up at the little pointy face looking down at him, and immediately began sweating bullets.  "C-cat!!"

                Botan started off with her pre-made plea to Ranma, really wishing she worked better under pressure.  "Okay, now calm down Ranma!  Remember, this is your Spirit Guide, he hatched from the egg?" Ranma didn't panic right away, seeming to have latched onto the sound of Botan's voice for support.  "He is you in every sense of the word, he even has the same, or similar curse as you.  He _is_ you.  You can't be afraid of yourself... right?" If this didn't work, she was ready to bop him unconscious and try it another way.

                "Me?" Throughout all of this Ranma kept his eyes latched onto those of the cat.

                "Think of it another way.  I am a Spirit Beast, not a cat.  Cats aren't Spirit Beasts, are they?" Ranma slowly shook his head no.

                "Remember, he's your Spirit Beast that you hatched from an egg.  There's no reason to be afraid of him, so long as you aren't afraid of yourself?"

                Ranma shook his head, as if shaking the cobwebs loose.  "No, I, uh... so, what's his name?"

                "That's for you to decide, I suppose."

                "I, um, uh..." In the fog of Ranma's mind, he tried to make sense of what his eyes were telling him verses what his mind thought it knew.  He was doing his best to see a Spirit Beast and not a cat.  That the creature in front of him was in fact a Spirit Beast, _his_ Spirit Beast.  That, though it admittedly looked like a cat, obviously wasn't.  What cat could talk?  As far as Ranma knew, none.  So he forced out of his mind the image of a cat and into it he forced the image of a friend in disguise.

                And all this time he was frozen in place, barely breathing for a good five minutes.

                In his mind, which was slowly coming out of its fog, Ranma started putting pieces together about the outside world.  At some place in his mind he was already thinking about the problem of his new friend needing a name.  That part of his mind was working with the bits and pieces that came to it.

                Color?  He was almost all black, from head to foot to foot to foot to foot.  He had golden eyes and a few golden markings about his head, outlining his ears and making a cup-like arrow that pointed at his nose and expanded out to the top with a little dot in between the arms.

                The cat, er, Spirit Beast in question sighed.  "I just hope he doesn't come up with 'C-chan'."

                "Hmm?  Where did that come from?"

                "I don't know.  I just know I don't want to be called that..." (1)

                That got a laugh from Ranma, which helped to relax him a bit so he could think better.  'Well, he does look _like_ a cat, but he's special, sooo...'  "I got it!"

                The sudden declaration surprised the still unnamed Spirit Beast cat enough to jump back, though he still landed nimbly on all four feet.  "Eh?  What then?"

                "Hyo-sama! 'Lord Panther!'" (2)

                'Hyo-sama' grinned in a catty way.  "Makes me sound important, I like it."

                Botan smiled.  'That worked better than I expected!'  "Well, Hyo-sama, welcome to Nerima!  And Ranma, welcome back to the world of the living!  Literally."

                Ranma kept his eyes locked on Hyo-sama as he spoke to Botan.  "So are you staying here?  Or do you have work to do?"

                "I suppose I do have to go, once I'm sure you're okay here.  I will drop in if there's anything you need to know... uh, why are you staring at him like that?"

                "Memorizing his face (3), and kinda waiting for Kasumi to get back.  I'm starving..."

                "Oh!  Well, then, I suppose I'll just have to see if I can't find her, heh."

                Ranma was still staring at Hyo-sama when Botan left the room to find Kasumi in the kitchen.

==

                "I'm home!"

                Hyo-sama turned his head toward the new voice.  "Who's that?"

                "That's Akane."

                "Oh... okay.  Who's that?"

                "Don't worry, you'll figure things out eventually." Ranma finished his curry and set his bowl to the side, still staring at Hyo-sama in an attempt to burn the face into his memory.

                Some shuffling and other noises that Hyo-sama recognized as conversation went on outside the room.  Basically it cumulated to Akane rushing to the door of the guestroom while yelling Ranma's name.

                What she saw when she opened the door horrified her.  Ranma cat = disaster.

                Without thinking she dove down, scooped up the little black cat, and carried him out of the room.  She then unceremoniously dumped him on the floor just out of sight of Ranma.

                Standing in the door to the room, she wondered at Ranma finally being awake as he sighed helplessly.

                "Nice to meet you too." Drawled Hyo-sama as he twisted himself off of his own head.

                "Yea-huh?" Akane looked down at the little black cat as he walked back into the room.  She then panicked again and picked him up and took him out into the hall.  Holding him by his front legs she looked at him.  "Did you just talk?"

                "It's okay, Akane.  Hyo-sama's my Spirit Beast-Guide-thingy."

                "Hyo-sama?"

                "Yeah.  Don't you like it?"

                "Yeah but, you know its name?  You know it's a cat, right?" Akane set Hyo-sama back on the ground, where he, for some reason, started licking his fur back into place after Akane mussed it up by picking him up.  It just really bothered him that half his hair had been pushed backward!

                "Yeah, well, no, I mean yes, but he's not really a cat.  Besides, I was the one who had to name him, so yeah I know his name."

                "Okay but... why didn't you just name it 'C-chan'?  Or something like that?"  Hyo-sama immediately fell on his side, despite his catty agility, and found he suddenly had a headache as he had somehow managed to land on his forehead.

                "Is she serious?" Hyo-sama's distaste for the name came through in his tone.

                Ranma nodded.  "That's how she named P-chan, her pet 'pig'."

                "Pig?"

                Ranma nodded again as he rolled his eyes.  "Yeah, and he's a _real_ pig." Hyo-sama decided to leave it at that.

                "Now that you mention it, where _is_ P-chan?" After a few seconds of looking around fruitlessly Akane seemed to stop looking and just look at the wall blankly.

                She then turned around and hit Ranma over the forehead. "Hey!  What was that for!?"

                "Stop distracting me!!!" She then enveloped Ranma in a hug.  It wasn't like one of Shampoo's choke-inducing glomps.  It was more like Akane was worried she might break him or something like that.  She held him firmly, but only firmly enough to know that he wasn't going anywhere.

                Looking down, Ranma saw that she was crying.  "Uh, Akane?"

                _"I missed you!  You jerk!  _The least you can let me do is welcome you back... and promise me you won't do that again."

                Slowly, and without really knowing what to do, Ranma put one arm around Akane's back.  He didn't say anything, knowing that for him, such a promise was impossible.

== But where was Nabiki? ==

                "So it's this way?"

                Nabiki shook her head no.  "100 yen."

                Ryoga hung his head.  "One question.  How much will it take for you to lead me to Saotome's funeral?"

                Nabiki thought it over.  "10000 yen for me to show you there.  And another thousand for every time I have to go looking for you."

                 Ryoga felt his depression going even deeper for a moment as he emptied another ten-thousand yen from his pockets.  He had thought it a blessing to find Akane's sister out on the streets, but it turned out to be anything but.

                For her part Nabiki had thought it a pretty generous rate charging Ryoga only one-hundred yen each time he got the direction wrong.  She also noted that he tended to get turned to the right and often went in circles, straight back to where he got the directions from.

                Even without the ten-thousand, she had made quite a killing off of that Ryoga boy.  Who knew he had so much money on him?  Well, it's not like anyone would actually get it from him even if they tried.  Not without getting a broken wrist or jaw... or worse.

                "Now do your best to follow me.  I don't want to have to find you even for a thousand yen."

                Ryoga only nodded as he latched his eyes onto Nabiki's well-formed, feminine rear.  When he realized where he was staring, he quickly developed a massive nosebleed and passed out.

                Nabiki heard the thump and turned around to find Ryoga on the ground with blood coming out of his nose and a pale look on his face.  Looking around, she tried to spot something, anything, that could possibly wake him up.  Cold water was out, he had to be human.  Smacking him was also out, nothing short of a bus could wake_ him_ up.

                Smirking, Nabiki came up with something she was _sure_ would wake him up!  "Akane!?  What are you doing here?"

                "Akane!  Where!?" Getting up immediately, Ryoga began searching the crowds for his beloved Akane.  His eyes then locked on Nabiki.  "Where is she?"

                "Back at the dojo by now.  And that'll be one-thousand yen, thank you."

                Knowing better than to ask questions, Ryoga simply handed the girl the money, this time deciding to keep an eye on her back, rather than its end.

==

                "I'm home!"

                "Oh!  My dear Akane!  Let me console you in your time of need!"

                Ryoga was seen in the back yard, looking around confused.  However, he was determined not to get lost so he anchored his feet to the ground.  "Uh, I can't go anywhere right now, so if someone could take me to see Ranma's casket?  Or possibly grave?"

                Ranma, feeling a good-bit better after getting some nutrition into his system, had been stretching out in the dojo at the time.  Hearing the commotion, he went to the yard to investigate.  Smirking, he got Ryoga's attention, doing his best to ignore the several ghost-like demons still surrounding him.

                From atop his head he looked down at Ryoga's face.  "Hey there, Ryoga.  And if you're looking for my grave, you're just a bit out of luck."

                Ryoga scowled from his place beneath Ranma's feet.  "So, Ranma!  You fake your own death!?  And here I was looking forward to dancing across your final resting place!"

                Ranma scratched his chin, his child-like demeanor the only thing keeping him from freaking out on the ghost-bugs surrounding Ryoga.  "That so?  Well, I _was_ dead, but now I'm not.  Is there something wrong with that?"

                Now, if this was anyone else, they probably would have asked Ranma what he was talking about.  But as it was, NASA was able to detect the vibrations when Ryoga exploded.  **_"LIAR!!!" _**He then landed a hit directly on Ranma's face, sending him falling into the Koi pond behind them.

                Ranma angrily crawled out of the pool, pulling at her shirt so it wouldn't stick uncomfortably and tightening her sash to prevent her pants from falling down (why else?).  "Alright then, let's see just how much weaker I am after my three-week nap."

                **_"Whether you came from the grave or not, I intend to PUT YOU THERE!!!"_**

                Ranma didn't wait for Ryoga to attack first; instead she opted for a quick start to the fight.  She ran at Ryoga at full speed, using her left elbow to strike him in the gut once in close enough, and swinging powerfully upward, sending him into the air a ways.

                Ryoga, being Ryoga, wasn't even fazed.  "Hah!  Is that it!?  If it is then I might believe that you're dead, I've never felt you hit so softly!!  HAHAH!!"

                'Crap, I must be more tired than I thought... guess I gotta stick with it then...'

                Realizing that, being so tired, she wouldn't be able to effectively block or parry Ryoga's pile-driver hits, Ranma started working himself to the limit dodging hits.

                "HA!!  YOU HIT LIKE A _GIRL_ RANMA!!!" **BAM**  Ryoga struck the ground with one fist, making a good-sized crater in the ground where Ranma had appeared only a moment before, and had quickly flitted away.

                "Ranma!!"

                "Botan!?  AHH!!  Kinda busy right now!!"

                "WHO THE HELL ARE YOU TALKING TO, RANMA!?!?" **BAM**

                "Take off the wrist-bands!  You aren't ready for a fight like this with them on!"

                Ranma, still on the run for the time being, registered Botan's words in her mind and went to pull off one of the wrist-bands, only to not find any.  "Huh?"

                _WHISH!!_ In her moment of distraction, Ranma nearly bit the dust with one of Ryoga's harder punches.  Still retreating, she hazarded a look at her wrists.

                There they were, two little red wrist-bands.  But when she tried to peel them off, it was as if they weren't even there!

                "Crap..." **BAM**

                Ranma watched as rocks and pieces of concrete from the sidewalk beside the street they were fighting in flew in front of her face.  She then decided to get a little distance between her and Ryoga.  As she retreated away from Ryoga, she felt something brush up against her arm.  As it was left behind, she saw one of the green-colored 'balloon' demons still present around Ryoga.  'I wonder...'

                When Ryoga came in close enough to force Ranma to move again, she went just beside him, quickly grabbing one of the nearby creatures, she found that it was just as solid as if it really were solid, despite that she could see straight through it.

                Not allowing Ryoga any time to catch up to her, she deftly rammed the thing against her knee and used one fist to smash it well enough.

                "Huh?" Ryoga could swear he was getting that weird feeling again.  In a way, it was a bit like the relief he felt each time he scored a hit on Ranma.

                "HYA!!" In Ranma's mind, if one could make him stumble for a moment, then two could stall him.

                But back in Ryoga's mind, the entire world was reeling.  It was like he was being forced to relive all those times Ranma had attacked him, real or imagined.  Anger and depression swirled together in his aura as he turned around with wild-eyes.  **_"RANMAAA!!!!  YOU WILL DIEEEE!!!"_**

                "SHIT!!" Ranma started running away as Ryoga as he pulled one arm back, focusing the purple-red mix into his hand.  'BAAAD IDEA!!!  STUPID RANMA!!'

                **_"SHI SHI HOKO_**-HAK!!"

                Ranma turned around to see Ryoga tied to a lamp-post with a peculiar chain that led to a nearby rooftop.  "Huh?"

                **_"YOU THINK THIS IS GOING TO STOP ME!?!?"_** Ryoga then proceeded to pull the lamppost out of the ground and use it like he normally did with his umbrella.

                Before Ranma could think of anything to do, a figure clad in light-red armor came down and gave Ryoga's head a good klonking.  Ranma then watched as Shampoo, as he had affirmed that it was Shampoo, slipped around Ryoga's side and delivered another strong hit directly to Ryoga's back, knocking him to his face.

                "Shampoo?"

                Shampoo turned a serious eye to Ranma, who saw much the same Shampoo that had once been out to kill her.  "Shampoo is Ranma's Shield Sister.  Will fight to death for Ranma!"

                Beside her Ranma heard Ryoga getting wrapped up almost instantly in at least twenty loops of chain.

                "My chains won't hold him long when he's like this, we need a way to knock him unconscious!"

                Shampoo walked straight up to the bound berserker and powerfully swung her bonbori at the captive's head.  When that didn't work, she tried again.  Still, Ryoga fought the chains while trying to get to Ranma.

                Meanwhile, Ranma knocked on a nearby door.  "Excuse me?"

                "Perhaps this will do?" Mousse took from his robes a few eggs, which he promptly threw at Ryoga.

                **BOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMM**

Ryoga was now singed a little around the edges, but otherwise okay.  **"Where is he!!"**

"Thank you." Ranma politely said to the generous homeowner. "I'll be sure to return it as soon as I'm finished."

                "Nothing's working!"

                "Shampoo got idea!" Shampoo then walked up to Ryoga close enough to count being in his face.  She then pulled down her a metal breast plate and pulled at the collar of the cloth beneath, giving Ryoga a good view of her cleavage.

                If anything, Ryoga seemed to become even more enraged.  **_"RRRAAANNNMMMAAA!!!"_** He wiggled around and, with a few lucky turns, managed to ram his forehead directly into Shampoo's still half-exposed chest.

                "It not work?"

                "Why don't you try this?" Ranma then upended a glass of water on Ryoga's head and grabbed onto the bandanna of the instant P-chan.

                P-chan then latched his jaw onto Ranma's wrist while scratching up her arm and hand as well as he could.

                "Uh, Shampoo?" Ranma held out her hand as Shampoo readied her bonbori.

                Shampoo smiled a bit as she stalked toward the relatively-helpless little piggy, who still had his mouth around Ranma's petite wrist.  "Yes, sister Ranma."__

                **WHACK**

                And it was lights out for P-chan.

                With Ryoga thoroughly neutralized, Ranma raised an eyebrow at Shampoo.  "Sister?"

                Shampoo cocked her head to the side.  "Ranma is Izar-rei, is sister to Amazons." Surprisingly, she then got down on both knees, "No time to ask before, but will Ranma let Shampoo be Ranma's sister?" Shampoo then offered her hand out, obviously for Ranma to accept.

                Ranma looked over Shampoo's obviously subservient form, wondering at the sight of a proud Amazon being so... what was the word?  "What is this?"

                Mousse stepped in, "Shampoo feels bad for making things hard for you.  Honestly, she didn't truly want to, but was convinced it was necessary.  What she's asking is for you to let her make it up to you by allowing her to assist you in the future."

                Ranma looked at Mousse, now puzzled by _his_ demeanor.  'Well, I guess now that Shampoo doesn't want to marry I'm not competition.  I guess I won't go farther into it than that... ugh.' That they could even remotely possibly be brothers, moreso than already, didn't exactly appeal to Ranma.

                Looking back down, she considered Shampoo again.  It was true, Shampoo had helped to make Ranma's life very, _very_ difficult since her first arrival in Nerima.  But the fact was that, in some way, such difficulty would have likely come to him anyway, as in retrospect, Ranma could see such chaos following him all his life, even before having left his mother in Juuban.  And the fact was that through nearly all of that, the blame almost always laid on his father in one way or another.  There _were_ some, if not many things that the baka-panda had nothing to do with, such as Herb, the Kunos, and more recently Saffron and even Shinji.

                Although, now that she looked back on it, Shinji was more of a blessing in disguise, as a way to seemingly solve so many problems and reduce a good portion of the chaos that filled Nerima.  Like a kettle, he had been a bit of a release-valve.  A burst of steam that let the overall temperature go down just a bit and relieving a good amount of the pressure.

                In his previous thoughts, he had come to a sort-of conclusion that, it wasn't really her fault.  In a way, Ranma somehow knew that he would come to the same conclusion for the others as well, except perhaps the Kunos, whom he still had to deal with, eventually.  Looking down at Shampoo's offered hand, Ranma nodded and took it.  "Come on Shampoo, stand up..." she then blinked when Shampoo stood in front of her smiling in withdrawn happiness.  "And do you think you could..."

                "Mm?"

                "Could you put your shirt back on?"

                Looking down, Shampoo noted that her shirt had fallen just a little too far down and instantly covered herself, blushing madly.

                "Haha, um, well, I'm gonna go back to the dojo now..." It was then that something decided to make itself known in Ranma's recollection, "Hey... where'd Botan go?"

                "Stick-girl fetch Shampoo and Mousse, then say she go get something from Spirit World."

                "Oh... haha!  That makes sense!  I guess..."

                Ranma then walked off, leaving Shampoo as she replaced her armor and motioned for Mousse to follow her back to the cafe.

                Mousse sighed as he looked at the sky.  "Where is Khu Lon when you need her?"

==

                At that moment 'Khu Lon' was on her way back to Japan, bearing two surprises for the newest Spirit Detective.

                The first was her 'gift' to the boy, something that she hoped would help him in any coming ventures.  The second was a new ally, someone that, though not particularly powerful, still held great potential.

                Tsukiko's training had gone spectacularly thusfar, and she was now under Khu Lon's personal tutelage.

                "Elder?  Where are we going?"

                "To Japan, child.  The Detective should have arrived by now and we don't want to make him wait too long before getting the chance to meet you."

                Tsukiko smiled brightly, reminiscent of the child she now was.  "Yes Elder!"

                Khu Lon sighed as she continued to walk along, her staff having broken during one of her retraining sessions with the bright youngster.  'I should get a stronger staff.'

                "Elder?  When are we going to be training next?"

                Khu Lon looked back on her charge.  After only three weeks she had grown to be stronger than Shampoo herself, yet her training seemed lacking in Khu Lon's opinion. "Today... we will be reflecting.  There is more to martial arts than punching your opponent's lights out, and we must reflect on that..."

                "Oh... okay."

                In those few weeks since the Musk had dropped her off with some of the Amazon Forward Scouts, she had learned well the lesson of how to be human.

                But there were many things she had yet to learn...

==

                Ranma returned to the Tendo house to see Botan speaking with Kasumi.  "I'm back."

                "Ranma!  There you are!"

                "Yeah.  Uh, so, Botan.  Where'd you go?" Ranma looked around the main room for something to restrain P-chan with.

                "Oh!  Just a second and I'll show you..." She then pulled out a briefcase from beside her and rummaged about in it.  "Here, put these on."

                Ranma took the red cloth bands and looked at them suspiciously.  "Don't I already have some of these?"

                Botan shook her head no, "Your spirit does, but when you couldn't take them off I realized that your body didn't.  Put those on and they'll fuse with the other ones and let you take them off."

                "Oh!  Well that's better!" Ranma put them on her wrists and they seemed to move around until the see-through ones and the solid ones met, fusing together.  She then experimented by lifting the edge of one of them and was elated to see that they both moved together.  "Great!!"

                "And one more thing before I go, I have to show you how to use your Spirit Gun."

                "A gun?"

                "Yeah, but you can't lose this one.  You just point your finger out, focus your spirit energy at the end, and then fire it.  The hardest part should be the focusing part since you're used to using your chi alone, but you should be able to get it with practice."

                Ranma decided to try it out.  Putting one hand forward, she made a gun with her finger, pointing out a nearby window, and started concentrating.

                After a minute or so she sighed as she dropped her arms.  "Yeah, I'll get it eventually.  Thanks for the tip, Botan.  Now I have a question for you."

                "Hmm?"

                "What should I do with him?" Ranma pointed to the little black pig laying unconscious on the floor beside her feet.  Something occurred to her then and she turned to Kasumi.  "Hey, where'd Akane go anyway?"

                "Oh, she went up to her room when all the commotion started.  She should still be up there now."

                "Oh, okay."

                "Why don't you just give him to her?"

                Ranma seemed to blanch for no apparent reason.  "Because..." Ranma's face took on a slightly blank look, which then turned mischievous as she looked down at the little piggy.  "I just got an idea..."

                Botan, Kasumi, and the newly-present Nabiki blinked as Ranma walked off while carrying P-chan in one hand...

== Some Time Later ==

                "... _RYOGA!!"_ **Crash!**

                Ryoga ran blindly through the streets of Nerima, which wasn't really all that much different from usual, except this time he was naked and wishing for a bit of cold water.  Cue the old lady.

                _Plash!_

                "SQUEE!!" Even as a piglet, Ryoga continued running, fearing for his life (to a degree).  'Damn you Ranma!  I'll get you someday!!!'

                Akane sat, stunned and fuming, in her room as a bowl of steaming-hot soup was allowed to drip off the walls after she had thrown it at Ryoga.  And to think, she allowed that little pig to eat that soup!!!

                Ranma sat in his room snickering as he watched the little light on the end of his right index glow steadily.  He knew that Ryoga was really hating him right now, though that wasn't unusual.  He also knew that Akane was going to be really angry with him too, which was also okay.

                He remembered the encounter well.  (It was only like twenty seconds ago...)

                                Once the family had finished with dinner, Ranma turned to Akane.

                                "Hey Akane.  Why don't you wake up your pig and give him some?  
                I'll bet he's real hungry about now..."

                                Akane smiled.  "Good idea, Ranma!  I'm glad to see you and P-chan  
                getting along finally."

                                "Well, you know.  After you've been dead for a while, you kinda look   
                at things different...  You see things you didn't see before..." 'Well, that _is_ true...'

                                Akane took a bowl of the soup up to her room with her and looked at  
                P-chan.  Probably commenting about how beaten-up he looked.  Waking the little  
                pig up with a bit of cold water, she began scolding him while holding him.  "You  
                really shouldn't get in fights with animals bigger than you are!  Now, eat this.  It'll  
                help you get better."

                                When she offered the bowl to P-chan he began looking nervous and  
                started squirming.  "Now quit fighting!  You have to eat or you'll never get better!"  
                Still, P-chan resisted.  "Fine then!  This is for your own good!" She then  
                proceeded to force the still-hot soup into the pig's mouth, making some of it  
                dribble down his chin...

                Ranma didn't feel one bit sorry for the little piggy, he'd had it coming to him two years fold.  In fact, Ranma kind of wondered why Akane never noticed that her pet-piglet never seemed to get any bigger.  Ranma was only glad that his own hunger had sparked that particular idea...

== Even Later That night ==

                "Are we ready yet?"

                Two pairs of eyes met the third in the darkness.  The two pairs both nodded as the third moved in.

                _Shwik shwik!_

                Two armored guards standing on either side of a pair of large doors fell limply to the ground.  "Move."

                Three shadowy figures moved into the building and, under the cover of night, made the theft of the decade.

                There was much destruction and blood left in their wake as the three marauders left the building, precious cargo in hand...

==

                "BOTAAAANNN!!!"

                The blue-haired woman in question popped her head into Koenma's office.  "Yes?  Koenma sir?"

                The toddler-sized ruler was currently wearing a lane into the top of his desk, hurriedly pacing back and forth while sucking fervently on his pacifier.  He then turned to Botan with a worried look on his face (who can tell?) and spoke with an urgent tone.  "Botan, I really hate to send your trainee out on a mission so early, but something very important has just come up!"

                "What's that, sir?"

                "Someone just stole the three Shadow Items!"

                "Oh my!  Do we know who?"

                Koenma pulled a file from beneath his foot and threw it at Botan.  "That's all we know for now, now get the detective on this pronto!!!  We need to get those items back before my father returns from vacation!!!"

                "And how long is that?  A week?"

                Koenma's face took on a grim look, "Three days, he decided to cut it short..."

                "Oh my!  I'll get on it right away!"

                "Please do..." Koenma said this to a closed door as the sound of frantic footsteps retreated down the hall.

                "Koenma sir?" A young-looking woman wearing a black kimono embroidered with flowers poked her head into Koenma's office.

                "Come in Shairi."

                "Latest reports on the suspects."

                "Thank you." Koenma took the file and looked it over.  His face turned sickly as the information sunk in, "This isn't good.  All that strength in one place?" He then slumped into his chair as he held his palm to his forehead, "OOHHH!!!!  I can see it now!  Waves of zombies and mindless demons taking over the world in waves... and the destruction when my father finds out!!!" Koenma crossed his arms and frowned, "Not to mention the damage to my precious bottom-side!  I'm sensitive you know!"

                Shairi smiled nervously, "Yes, sir.  Is there anything else you need?"

                "No, that'll be all for now.  It's up to Ranma now..."

                ======   End Chapter 4   ======

                Notes:

                (1) Ranma's distaste for the name P-chan carried on to his Spirit Beast.  It is only one of many.  No complete memories, however.

                (2) Thanks again to Psycho King for coming up with this name.  And it's a good thing too, or else I probably would have called him something like 'Quoghaan', and noone really wants to try to pronounce that, right?  OO"

                (3) For those who are wondering, the reason Ranma is memorizing Hyo-sama's face is that the only thing that separates Hyo-sama from other cats is his face, his distinctive feature being mostly the golden markings found there.  Ranma is trying to memorize those markings mostly so that he doesn't accidentally mistake him for a cat.

                Well, that's the end to yet-another chapter.  Things are somewhat more likely to move on now that we're all alive again, but don't expect things to go just as you expect them to.  .

                And just to get a general feeling for the audience, I'm going to make an unofficial poll, giving you three choices.  And yes, these do mean something.

                1. Explode

                2. Freeze

                3. Cleave

                If you want to know why, then you have to vote!!  I don't know how long I'm going to take to finish it, so vote now!

Alex Ultra: Creator of Eternal Realm

                LATER


	6. The Three Items

                I've got something going now, and I guess I can't stop just yet.  Okay, let's get going.

                ======  THE THREE ITEMS  ======

                It was two o'clock in the morning when Ranma had found himself trudging through a forest just outside the city.  'Stupid crooks.  Could have at least waited a few days for me to rest up...'

                As he moved silently through the foliage in the dead of the night, he began to hear some voices up ahead.  Moving in closer, he began picking up on the words.

                "I can't believe how easy that was.  Now all we have to do is stay away from the Spirit Detective and we'll soon rule the world!" A little skinny kid with spiky black hair was testing a sword in his right hand, a maddening grin on his face.

                "Heh, I don't care about the world, I'm just in it for the meal." A thickly muscled man with a ragged-looking mop of hair was eyeing a glowing green orb in his right hand.  He didn't appear, nor sound, as if he was too smart.

                "You can have your meal, I'll just make demons out of the corpses and with Kurama's mirror helping us we'll be unstoppable!"

                "I'm sorry, but I must withdraw from this alliance.  Goodbye." A skinny guy with long red hair and a sad look on his face turned around just as Ranma decided to announce himself.

                "Hello, what have we here?" Leaning against a nearby tree, Ranma whistled at the three, a mocking tone meant to arouse their anger, "Impressive!  A sword, a ball, and a mirror.  But you know, I don't think those belong to you."

                "I'm sorry, I don't have time to be arrested today." Kurama, the red-haired one, gripped his mirror a little tighter and ran off at a speed even Ranma could respect.  Nowhere near his own speed, but still pretty good.

                "Grr, KURAMA!  WAIT!  WE HAD A DEAL!!!" _flit_ Hiei, the one in black robes with spiky black hair, seemed to simply disappear with his speed, but Ranma's experienced eyes could track every movement even as the big guy walked up in front of him.

                "What do you want, Magilla Gorilla?"

                "Hehe, unlike my two companions, I'll be happy to abide you a fight.  And I take it you're Ranma Saotome?"

                "How do you know my name?"

                "HAHA!!  You must be kidding!?  Saotome?  Your name is all over the Demon World!  There are bounties on your head sky high!  Bounties I intend to collect when I've killed you!  RRRAAAGGGHHH!!!!" Suddenly, the big guy seemed to grow several times his size and his skin became an ugly orange-brown.  His eyes became an animal-like gold as his face, if anything, became even uglier as he grew fangs and his ears grew several times longer.

                "Nice trick.  So what are ya?  An ogre?"

                "A Gyukonki, not that it matters to you.  But if you'll excuse me, I'm suddenly hungry." Using his left hand, Goki reached into the green ball and grabbed something.  What he pulled out looked like a white puff, which he then swallowed.  "Ahhh... this thing really is amazing.  Able to pull human souls right out of their bodies.  Which is good, since it cuts down on all the cooking involved in eating them.  Children's souls are my personal favorites, being so tender and full of energy."

                "Y-you eat..?  That was a.. s-soul!?"

                "HAHAHA!!  YEAH!  GREAT!  ISN'T IT!?"

                Ranma's eyes glowed blue for a moment as he scowled darkly, **_"Bastard!  COUGH IT UP!!!  YAAA!!!"_**  Ranma sent a fist into the big man's stomach, bugging his eyes out and sending him through a nearby tree.

                "Aaagh... how can a puny human hit so hard!  My skin is hard as rock!!"

                "I break boulders with my head daily.  A thick-headed demon is nothing to me.  Now are you going to spit out that soul peacefully, or am I going to have to keep hitting you till it pops out?" Ranma looked really unhappy right then, glaring dangerously at the tall mountain of a demon.

                "Haha, you don't have what it takes to kill me.  Those stories about you were obviously exaggerated.  I was expecting a demon-killer, and here I've got a puny kid with a lucky punch!  HA!  I'LL KILL YOU NOW AND EAT YOUR SOUL!!!"

                Ranma easily dodged Goki's barreling fist, kicking him in the back of the head and sending him face-first through another tree for his trouble.  "Idiot.  I'm holding back all my strength.  If you had any eyes at all you'd be able to see that."

                "Hah!  All I see is a skinny kid with almost no Spirit Energy!  And I-I-I... uh, oh." Goki watched, wide-eyed as Ranma's aura of Spirit Energy suddenly flared to life.  He hadn't realized that Ranma had been hiding it that whole time.

                "Tell me, how do I get that soul out of you?"

                "Ah!!" Goki's previous bravado suddenly crumbled as he tossed the glowing orb to Ranma's feet.  "I give up!  I don't want to die!" Goki went into the Crouch of the Wild Tiger, bowing repeatedly at Ranma's feet.

                Ranma reached down and grabbed the groveling demon by his tattered shirt, his eyes glowing furiously.  "HOW DO I GET IT OUT OF YOU!?" When Goki just babbled incoherently, Ranma reached up to his right wrist with his left hand and pulled off the armband there, taking hold of Goki with his left hand, intending to do some damage, and maybe pop that soul out in the process.

                **BAM!**

                "AHG!!  The orb!  Use the orb!"

                "Hm?" Ranma looked down at the glowing green ball still on the ground.  Picking it up with his free hand, he could suddenly see a bunch of hazy lights inside his target.  There was an overtone of black light throughout his body, and a bunch of smaller white lights in his stomach.  "I get it..." Pushing the ball forward, he mentally pulled on the white souls, removing them from his stomach with a sudden pull that literally blasted a hole in the creeps belly.  "Oops... oh well."

                Dropping the limp body, he then tried to figure out a way of releasing the souls.

                "Ranma.  Just reach in and pull them out, that'll do the trick."

                "Botan?  ... like this?" Ranma reached into the ball, which surprisingly yielded to his touch, and grabbed something soft.  Pulling it out, he let it go, and it floated off into the sky.  Smiling, he pulled out two more souls in the same manner.  "That should do it."

                "And I'll take care of the stomach here.  But I can tell you that the other two won't be quite so easy."

                Ranma yawned, "Yeah, I'll get them later.  Right now, I need to get some sleep before I drop."

                "I'll lend you a ride."

                "Sure." Ranma grabbed onto Botan's oar and they launched off, Botan suddenly holding onto that same black soul that Ranma had seen earlier. 'Heh, that'll teach 'im.'  Ranma didn't find it a bit odd that he didn't really care that he had just killed.  It was a demon, so he didn't mind.

==

                Hyo-sama yawned widely as Ranma came back into the guestroom.  "Did you get them?"

                "Uh?  Yeah, I'll get the other two tomorrow.  G'nite."

                Hyo-sama shrugged, and then curled up beside his master, blocking out the choked panda snores from the tied-up bulk across the room.

==

                "Breakfast!"

                Ranma pulled her beaten and battered corpse out of the koi pond, smirking even as each of her limbs protested to the movement.  Most likely she wouldn't be getting any food till after Genma'd had his fill, but that was okay.  She'd gotten in a few good hits with her Spirit Gun, and could already feel her Spirit Energy recovering and smoothing over her injuries.  She'd be sore in school, but that was just fine, it felt good to be alive again.

                Ranma almost got her mouth on a leftover donut when Akane grabbed her by the pigtail and dragged her out the door.  "Come on Ranma!  We'll be late!"

                Ranma shrugged and swallowed the donut in one bite, 'I'll just let 'er drag me, my legs are too sore to do much yet anyway.'

                But there was one thing that Ranma had apparently forgotten...

                "Ah!  Akane hath returned to me!  AND THE PIG-TAILED GIRL!  Truly now, since Saotome's defeat, the goodness of thine hearts are now free to be with me!  Come now, so we may go to the stars to-geth-er?" _blink_

                Akane didn't even miss one step on her way into the building, ignoring Kuno completely.

                "Uh, Akane?  Where we-"

                "Here he is, see?  He isn't dead!"

                Ranma blinked in the face of Miss Hinako, who blinked in return and pointed to his seat.  "Okay, then you both need to sit down.  Mr. Saotome can make up his absence later."

                "Yeah, uh-" Ranma was struck somewhat speechless as she was suddenly dragged to and then planted into her old seat, which was covered in a small layer of dust.  "Wow, _cough_ dust..."

                "Hey wow!  Ranma's back!" Hiroshi sat down beside Ranma, opposite Akane.

                "Were you really dead Ranma?" Daisuke took his seat behind Hiroshi.

                "Yeah, for a while there.  Was a ghost and everything... waitaminnit... my books are still at the house!"

                "You can look in mine if you need.  I can't believe I'm talking to a real live zombie!"

                "I'm not a zombie!  I'm just so great that the gods wanted me alive longer!  HAHA- ow!  Damn pops had to hit me in the back..." Ranma arched her back in order to rub a spot at the base of her back.

                This action caused her assets to be thrust out in the open, drawing the eyes of every boy in the class, much to Akane's annoyance.

                **WAP! CRACK!**

                "PERVERTS!  STOP STARING!"

                Ranma turned her back, testing it after Akane had hit it.  "Wow, that's lots better.  The doc teach you that?"

                "No.  I just figured that if you didn't stop thrusting your chest in the air I'd go ballistic.  You have no idea what you're doing to them, do you?"

                "Who?"

                "_argh_" Akane began hitting her head on her desk, mumbling about stupid, clueless perverts.

                From there on class went on just as boring as normal, other than the occasional letter from any random classmate, including one Spirit Ward from an anonymous 'spell caster' in the back of the room.  Unsurprisingly, Hikaru Gosunkugi avoided Ranma's gaze, instead focusing on the ceiling or the floor alternatively.

                And then came math...

                "To solve a three-by-three matrix, you must first take the top-left square matrix and solve it down to its base.  Then do the same for the other three corners until you are down to a basic four.  This you know.  For a four-by-four and above, however, the process is somewhat more complicated, taking far more steps than any of the simpler matrices-"

                "RANMA!!  THERE YOU ARE!!" Suddenly a blue-haired girl in a pink version of the Furinkan school uniform barged into the room and stomped over to Ranma's desk.

                "Botan!?  What are you doing here?!"

                Botan grabbed Ranma by the ear and dragged him out of the room, "What are you doing here!?  You've got work to do, Mister!"

                "But Botan!  I have to know this!!!  I CAN BEAT 'EM UP LATER!!!" Ranma fought Botan's grip only slightly as she dragged him out of the building.

                The teacher pushed his glasses back up his nose as he cleared his throat, "Ah, Miss. Tendo?  When he returns, remind me to have Mr. Saotome stand out in the hall?"

                "Yes, sir." Akane suppressed a growl as she returned to her book.

==

                "Damn, Botan, what was that all about?" Ranma was rubbing his reddened ear while walking alongside Botan.

                "You have to find those items, Ranma!  You can't be wasting time at school!"

                Ranma smirked, "Thanks for confirming that, Botan."  He then looked down at the little watch-compass on his left wrist.

                "You know what I mean!  Ranma!  We have three days, no, TWO! To find all three items!  We aren't talking about things made by humans, and you should know those are dangerous enough!  These were made by the Universe itself in order to keep the balance between light and dark, and are pure darkness.  In the wrong hands, even in the _right_ hands, they can cause all sorts of mayhem, destruction, and sorrow!"

                "Yeah, yeah.  You told me this last night... though I also remember something about pink bunnies.  Now anyway, the compass thingy says that red-haired guy is somewhere near here.  What was his name again?"

                "His name is Kurama, a legendary Spirit Fox not unlike your own Spirit Beast.  Hyo-sama's been tracking him all morning so he shouldn't be far off."

                "Yeah, great..." _tap tap_ Ranma tapped his compass just as the darn thing started spinning uncontrollably.  'Great, he's here.  And with my Spirit Energy all used up and my chi locked up I can't sense him even a little bit.'

                Botan didn't notice the way that Ranma stiffened up, but she did notice the compass going crazy.  "He's here..."

                Then they both heard a message in their heads just as they noticed a red-haired guy with green eyes looking at them, {Do not worry, I am not here to fight you.  I only want to ask a favor.}

                {Yeah?  What's that?}

                {Simply allow me to keep the Forlorn Hope through tonight.  I promise I will not be causing anyone any harm, and after tonight I will gladly return it.}  Ranma watched as Kurama walked up beside him, {Please, I mean neither you nor anyone else any harm.  I merely require the Forlorn Hope's power to save someone I care for.  I'm sure you understand...}

                Ranma nodded as he allowed Kurama to move on.  'Yeah, I understand...'

                _"What was that about!?  You just let him walk off!?"_

                Ranma looked down, "CAT!!!!!!!!"

                Botan, and everyone else on the street, looked up at where Ranma was clinging to the side of a nearby building.

                "DAMMIT HYO-SAMA!  DON'T SNEAK UP ON ME LIKE THAT!"

                Many sweatdrops were found in the surrounding area.

== That Night ==

                Ranma had followed Kurama by his aura, having recovered enough of his Spirit Energy to do so, and found him atop a building.

                Kurama was just about to make his wish when Ranma interrupted him.  "And just what is this wish of yours?  And why are you on top of a hospital?"

                Kurama sighed, "Some time ago, I was known as Yoko Kurama, a Spirit Fox of great power.  With time, I had become bored and turned to thievery, obtaining rare artifacts simply as a way to pass the time.  But one day I made a foolish mistake and because of it was nearly killed.  With the last of my energy I made a portal to the Mortal Realm and came here, to Earth.  I was badly injured and needed to recover, so in a ploy to save my life I bonded with an unborn child." Kurama smiled with recollection, "I'm sure that I must have been a handful in my early years," He turned toward the railing, leaning against it and letting out a sigh before continuing.  "But with time I came to care for my human mother, far more than any demon I had ever known was able.  And now she has come down with a disease that threatens her life, and if I don't intervene now, she will die.  I know that this mirror, in order to do as I ask, will take my life.  But that is a sacrifice I am willing to make."

                "Oh really?  And how do you think she'll feel when she finds out her son is dead?"

                "Believe me, detective.  If there were any other way, I would be the one to know of it and would gladly use it.  But this is the only way..." A beam of moonlight reached down to touch the mirror right then.

                As if reacting to the moonlight, which it most likely was, the mirror began to glow as an eerie voice issued forth from it.  _"Speak your wish, and I will grant your heart's truest desire.  A warning: Any wish I grant comes at the cost of your life."_

                "Mirror!  I wish for you to recover my human mother to full health, saving her life at the cost of my own."

                "HEY!  WAIT A MINUTE!  What about her!?  What about everyone else!?  I've seen it before, and it ain't pretty!  And I don't want to see it again!" Ranma, without thinking, looked at the mirror, "Hey mirror!  I want you to take _my_ life instead!  You got that!?"

                Botan's eyes widened as she came out of the stairway door atop the roof, "RANMA!  WAIT!!"

                _"GRANTED!!!"_

                A bright flash coming from the mirror engulfed the area, causing everyone to have to cover their eyes until it receded again.

                Kurama looked dumbstruck for a moment as the area stilled.  Ranma looked his hands over, wondering if something went wrong.  Botan stood silent for a moment, suddenly wondering why she didn't just fly to the top of the building.

                Hyo-sama tackled Ranma, sending him to the ground, _"ARE YOU STUPID OR SOMETHING!?!?"_

                "Uh, yeah, I guess.  I mean, what happened?" Ranma looked himself over, 'Yup, everything's still here... wait,' a quick check ensured him that yes, _that_ was still there too.

                _"In response to these selfless acts and desires, I have granted this wish without taking life."_ The mirror then showed a picture of a woman in a bed, looking around a hospital room and looking as if she were looking for something.

                "Ranma!  What were you thinking!?"

                "Heh, go ahead, Kurama.  I'll bet there's someone down there looking for you." He then turned to the 'not-so grim' reaper.  "And you know, Botan, I really don't know.  I mean, the point was to stop people from being sad, but if I was gone again, then the whole thing with Akane and the others would have just been done all over again..."

                Hyo-sama smiled wryly as he looked right into Ranma's face, "You idiot!  You don't even know how clever you are!"

                "Hu-wha?"

                "It reflected your heart's desire!  Your desire was for no one to be sad, you just worded it wrong!  But the mirror doesn't care, it just reflected what was on your mind!  You did just what you wanted without even knowing it!"

                Botan blinked, "He did?"

                Hyo-sama nodded, "Yup!  But if he ever does that again, I'll have to... I'll be very angry at him!  GOT IT!!!"

                Ranma nodded quickly, backing away from the miffed feline, never having realized before that a cat could frown.  Of course, he had never really paid attention before.

                "Good, now let's start looking for that last guy, what was his name?"

                "Nah.  I'm goin' to bed.  It's late and I'm tired.  I'll see you later, Botan." Not allowing any argument, Ranma just stepped over the edge of the building, landing easily on the sidewalk.

                "..."

                "..."

                "..."

                "..."

                "Need a ride?"

                "Yes please."

                ====== That's it, for now. ======

                I suppose I should end it here.  I suppose the last item will be used in the next chapter.  I know that some of you are thinking, 'It's just like the other one!'  Well, unfortunately, the first major differences come after this stuff, although you have already had a taste or two of how Ranma will be affecting the Yu Yu Hakusho storyline.

                I suppose that's it for now.

                I suppose that means I should close this for now...

                I suppose I should recount the score for the 'Poll that will affect the future in a (slightly) major way.' poll.

                Explode:  IIII

                Cleave:  I

                Freeze:  IIII

                O.O  Looks like we have a tie.  If that keeps up, I may have to cast my _own_ vote!  Not that I mind...

                Either this or the next chapter will be the final chance to make your vote, after that, a winner will be chosen and the purpose of this whole debacle shall be revealed!  So make your vote again, lest this never be resolved!  .

                With two worlds in one hand and a machine that says 'World Creator/Destroyer/Changer' in the other, this is Alex Ultra, signing off.

Alex Ultra: Lost In A Sea of My Own Making

                LATER


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